Over 130 people from over 70 organisations attended the workshop. Half were Thai delegates, either from regional NGOs or from Thai Peoples Organisations (P.O.s). The other half were international delegates from Regional NGOs. Most of the Thai P.O.s came from trade unions, student groups and Community Media. There were also representatives from fisher folk, Gay organisations and northern communities.

The meeting shared a concern that the level of participation by Thai P.O.s was too low, especially from the agricultural sector, rural communities and HIV groups. Therefore a number of proposals were made in order to try to correct this. One proposal was to make the WSF more relevant to the present political crisis in Thailand by holding Peoples Forums to discuss political reform (see later). Another proposal was to expand outreach work further into the Thai movement.

In general the meeting approved of the Proposed themes for the Bangkok 2006 WSF, which were presented as an example to the meeting. These were:
– Labour and Farmers vs Neo-liberalism
– Quality of Life
– Environment and Natural Resources
– Political and Economic Alternatives and Peoples Struggles
– State Violence and War

Many organisations made suggestions that the following issues be taken seriously: Debt, Democracy, Participation and Corruption. No conclusion about the themes was reached. This will take place instead at the “Programme Committee” meeting on 10 March, at the Political Science Faculty, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok at 17.00 hrs.

The design of the themes is in order to encourage Peoples Organisations & NGOs to develop an overall picture of problems and to move beyond “single-issues”. However, all participating organisations should feel free to organise any topics of their choice, whether they feel that they are linked to any theme or not. The themes are not designed to restrict choice.

The WSF Coordinating Council welcomes any suggestions on meeting topics from all Peoples Organisations or NGOs. These should be sent to us by e-mail.

On the second day of the Regional Workshop there was a difference of opinion between two sides. The first side, made up of some regional NGOs, wanted to extend the discussion on whether we were ready to hold a Bangkok WSF in October 2006. The second side, made up of those Thai Peoples Organisations which were present and some regional NGOs, felt that enough time had been spent in such a discussion. This side wanted to move on with the original agenda to discuss details of organising the October forum. The issue was put to a vote and the latter side was a clear majority. The meeting then proceeded to discuss details of planning for the forum. However a minority of those who lost the vote announced that they would withdraw from the Bangkok WSF process and walked out of the meeting.

The workshop agreed to expand the working committees from the present single committee of the Secretariat. Four Working Committees were proposed in practice for the present:
– Secretariat and Outreach
– Fund raising and finance
– Mobilising and publicity
– Programme Committee

There were a number of volunteers for these committees, but we do not have enough. Therefore we wish to call for more volunteers to take an active part in organising the forum. Please contact us by E-mail or phone +66 013469481

Peoples organisations and NGOs in neighbouring countries are encouraged to set up local working groups to coordinate participation from your country. Local groups in various regions of Thailand should also be encouraged. Let us know!!

Fund Raising - Sponsor a meeting room at the Forum for the 2 days!!
Raising funds for specific projects may be easier than general fund raising. We therefore request that organisations consider sponsoring meeting rooms by paying the cost of hiring the room for the duration of the forum. Some trade union bodies may be interested in this. Let us know your decisions by e-mail.

Finally, before closing the meeting, we agreed to support the following meetings and activities in the name of the “Coordinating Council for the Thai WSF”
– 18 March action against state violence in the South and the U.S. and British occupation of Iraq. Meet at in Bangkok, Siam Square, Chula Bookshop, 10am
– 19 March first round of “Peoples Forums” to design political reform in the interests of the poor. Chulalongkorn Faculty of Political Science, Building 3 Room 13. (In Thai only).
– 9 March working meeting of various committees of the WSF Thailand. 13.00hrs, Chulalongkorn Faculty of Political Science, Building 2 upstairs.
– 10 March 17.00 hrs Chulalongkorn Faculty of Political Science, Building 2 Upstairs, Meeting of Programme Committee.
– 23 April 09.00 hrs, Regional meeting of Coordinating Council, WSF Thailand. Chulalongkorn Faculty of Political Science, Building 1 Room 107.

This report was written by the Secretariat

Secretary office of
World Social Forum, Thailand
Giles Ji Ungpakorn tel (+66) 13469481 (+66) 22187221
email: thaiwsf yahoo.com
http://www.prachatai.com/wsf/
P.O. Box 2049 Chulalongkorn, Bangkok 10332 Thailand.