Mounting Pressure for Thailand to Join TPP
Further reports today suggest the government is under more pressure to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which became a treaty last Monday after being signed by 12 Pacific Rim countries.
Protesters. Image Credit: Stop FastTrack (Flickr)
As today’s Bangkok Post reports, some are urging the government to join the trade agreement, over fears of financial losses.
Duanden Nikomboriraks, research director of Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) says: “We think Thailand should join the new trade pact […] But prior to participation, the government must study deeply and clearly the impact to ensure that Thailand will be less harmed.”
Duanden is urging authorities to conduct in depth analysis of potential losses from the treaty, however to also conduct relevant due diligence and make this information available to people.
The fact that so little of the TPP agreement has been available for public knowledge has been one of the largest concerns regarding the treaty. Wikileaks are responsible for shedding light on much of what the treaty entails, having leaked part of the agreement online.
Skeptics of the deal argue that TPP is not really a trade arrangement at all, but a “Trojan horse” designed to make corporations even more money.
Read more here.
