Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
, by Pairat Temphairojana
BANGKOK — China and Thailand agreed to build an ambitious 900 kilometer (559 mile) railway line on Thursday in the latest sign of closer ties between them after Bangkok’s links with Washington have cooled.
The two countries agreed in a memorandum of understanding to build a long-mooted railway (...)
, by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd
CHIANG MAI - About 500 health, consumer and farming activists rallied here Wednesday to voice their concerns over possible adverse impacts from the free trade agreement (FTA) being negotiated by Thailand and the European Union.
A large number of activists from FTA Watch joined forces to demand (...)
After a series of warnings from civic groups that any international trade agreement without public consultation violates the constitution, the Commerce Ministry finally, albeit reluctantly, held a public hearing on the draft framework of the Thai-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) last Wednesday. (...)
, by WARR Peter
Thailand is caught in a middle-income trap of its own creation. How did this come about?
Are current policies making it better or worse, and what needs to be done to escape the trap?
The ‘middle-income trap’ is an empirical generalisation based mainly on East and Southeast Asian experience: (...)
During the last months of 2008, the Thai authority’s response to the global financial meltdown was sluggish, with no clear direction. This could be due to the on-going domestic political turmoil involving more than ten thousand demonstrators occupying the government house for almost 200 days, (...)
, by Chang Noi
The numbers are bringing the truth home. The shrinkage of Thailand’s GDP by 4.3 per cent in the last quarter of last year was modest compared to minus 12.7 per cent in Japan and comparable figures elsewhere. In January, exports dropped by 26.5 per cent in Thailand, by almost half in Japan, and (...)
, by Chang Noi
Who is making money, serious money? And how? A few weeks ago, Forbes published its list of Thailand’s forty richest for 2007. Who are they, and how did they make their fortunes?
The best way to make money today is by manufacturing something to pour down people’s throats. Top came Chaleo (...)
, by BAMFORD Alec, CHANYAPATE Chanida
In July 1997, massive capital flight from Thailand precipitated what is now known as the Asian financial crisis. Focus on the Global South was in the thick of the crisis, looking at the impacts first hand from our base in Thailand and analysing the political and economic fallout from every (...)
, by Chang Noi
Ten years ago next month, the bubble burst, the baht crashed, and Thailand led Asia into its worst economic crisis of modern times. The US policy elite diagnosed the problem as “Asian capitalism” which was too much based on family firms, too dependent on banks for loans, and too closely locked in (...)
, by BERTHELSEN John
Economic signs in Bangkok are mixed, as the junta’s policies chip away at investor confidence.
The first tangible signs are starting to emerge that, as expected, policies put in place after Thailand’s military coup last year are having a negative effect on the country’s economy, with both (...)
, by Chang Noi
Last week, the mobile-phone provider, AIS, announced profits had fallen by a third. Its parent, Shin Corp, booked a loss for the first time since the 1997 financial crisis. The Shin chairman, a giant of the Thai business world, got the boot. You could sense the ending of an era.
For fifteen (...)
, by Chang Noi
The forest are smouldering. The north is choking on the haze. In the background, you can hear a rustling sound. Bureaucrats are dusting off big-budget proposals for rescuing Thailand from drought. As background, it’s worth looking at the recent history.
Four years ago, the National Water (...)
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