July 07, 2006
Bye Bye Bangkok
This is my last post, my last day of work, but not my last day in Bangkok, as I don't leave until Thursday, but I will most likely not be able to post again because I will be traveling up north.
My last week of work did not go as I had hoped because I got sick and was bedridden for a day. I learned an important lesson though: Mexican food in Thailand is a poor choice. I did manage to rally yesterday and have a very productive interview with Dr. Virachai, Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and one of his collegues, Ms. Arjaree. I definitely got a good taste of the government's point of view, but it is hard to come to any sort of conclusions at this point because the two sides of the FTA issue are very divided. One side will say one thing, and the other will say the complete opposite. There is no middle ground it seems. I don't know what to believe, and honestly I'm not all that inclined to believe either of them, as issues like this never turn out to be as black and white as the two sides are trying to make them out to be. Good thing I have an entire semester to continue my research. Even though I didn't get to do as many interviews as I would have liked, I did make some good contacts that hopefully I will be able to use as my research continues in the fall. Thank goodness for email.
I am sad to go and I will miss all the friends I have made here, both Thai and American. Also, I must admit that this is my first foray into blogging, so I hope I did OK, and if not, I apologize. For anyone with more questions, I would be happy to talk about my experience here. And back to real life I go...
Posted by abbysmit at 05:58 AM | Comments (0)
June 30, 2006
Running Out of Time
It's Friday, and I have one more week of work left. I could definitely stay here for another month at least, but unfortunately I have to go back state-side and work. I was reading Max's blog and getting very jealous that his experience here is just starting, while mine is ending.
I am in a mad rush to get in touch with people to interview in my last week. I have been exchanging emails with potential interview subjects since I arrived more than a month ago, but people often take a long time to respond or don't respond at all. Then some of those people believe that I would be better off talking to someone else, so then the whole process starts all over again. Needless to say, it is slightly frustrating. Looking back, I think it would have been a good idea to try to get in touch with the people I wanted to interview before I left, but seeing as I didn't know exactly what my responsibilities would be at ITD, I didn't want to make any appointments that I wouldn't be able to keep. In any event, at least getting in touch with them and letting them know when I would be in Bangkok probably wouldn't have been a terrible idea.
All is not lost though. I am meeting this afternoon with a woman from Focus on the Global South, an NGO that does research on globalization issues and their effects on developing countries, and a women from FTA Watch, an NGO that represents a wide variety of civil society interests concerning Thailand's FTAs. Both of these organizations are definitely biased (against free trade, globalization, etc), but everyone I have asked about who to talk to about public opinion on free trade in Thailand has told me to speak to FTA Watch. To get a sense of the other side of the issue, I am speaking to the Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) on Thursday to get the point of view of a Thai bureaucrat involved in the negotiations. I am hoping this will give me a sense of how the process works in Thailand, i.e. who has access/influence over the agreements. In addition, I am hoping to sit down with the Executive Director of ITD sometime next week and pick his brain, as he as been involved in several FTA negotiations as well as serving on the Thai mission to the WTO in Geneva.
I am off to Angkor Wat this weekend with my mother, which I am very excited about. I have been dying to go there ever since I visited the Khmer ruins in Buriram last year. It should be a good trip, and hopefully it won't rain on us too much. Then one more week of work, then back to DC/AR/MI/CO and of course, real life. I am definitely not ready.
Posted by abbysmit at 12:12 AM | Comments (1)
June 20, 2006
Monsoon
It has been raining in Bangkok for three days. It's not constant, it is off and on, usually on when I happen to be outside without my umbrella.
Over the weekend I went to Pattaya with some people I met who are staying at Sasa. Last time I was there I didn't spend a lot of time down in the central part, especially at night, and it was definitely an eye opener. It's really too bad that beach and pretty much the whole area has been ruined by overdevelopment and tourism. The beach is covered with garbage, and the entire coast is packed with hotels. At least the US didn't lose to Italy.
Yesterday ITD held a seminar on anti-dumping and subsidies. I was the host of the event as my two collegues who planned it do not like speaking English in front of an audience, which I can definitely understand, although I am not the most comfortable public speaker. An international trade lawyer from Belgium and the Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs both lectured on how anti-dumping cases are litigated in the WTO, and some of Thailand's experiences.
My project is proceeding somewhat slowly at this point. I am doing a lot of background research at work, but I am having trouble getting in touch with people to talk to. I spoke to someone from the Economics Department at the US Embassy, and I have an appointment to meet with the FTA person at Focus on the Global South, an NGO. Everyone tells me I should talk to FTA Watch, another NGO in Thailand that is monitoring the FTA process. From their website, they have a lot to say on the matter, but it seems very one-sided. Everyone else I have emailed has not responded. In addition, I really would like to talk to a few people in the Thai government, preferable negotiators. One of the speakers from yesterday worked on the Japan FTA, so I plan on emailing him, and both the Executive Director and the Deputy Director at ITD have been involved in FTA negotiations for Thailand, so they might be good resources. The only problem is that they are generally very busy and/or out of town.
I hope it stops raining soon.
Posted by abbysmit at 05:58 AM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2006
Smile! Candid!
[I wrote this on Saturday, but could not post it until today because I didn't have internet access over the holiday.]
Bangkok is yellow, in celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the king’s accession to the throne. We have a long weekend, so some of my coworkers invited me to go to Samut Songkhram with them. We did a home stay, which means we stayed at a family’s house because it is cheaper than a hotel. The house was beautiful, and on the river. At night, they took us out on boat to see the fireflies. The trees looked like they were wrapped in blinking Christmas lights, that’s how many fireflies there were. It was amazing. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures because it was too dark.
We spent the morning lounging around the house, taking pictures and playing cards. I was taught a card game called Slave. The rest of the day we toured around Samut Songkrhram. First we went to Bang Krung Camp, a historical Thai fort famous for defending Siam against the Burmese in the late 18th century. Across the street is a temple in a tree, made famous by Unseen Thailand. Then we went to this woman’s house. She makes a Thai musical instrument called a saw, which she played for us very beautifully. I tried, and not surprisingly failed miserably because I have no musical talents what so ever.
We wanted to go to the floating market, but it didn’t really open until 4:30, so we still had some time to kill. We drove around, and found the Rama II Memorial Park. We talked around the beautiful gardens, and tried not to melt in the heat. The park is built around an house where Rama II lived for a period of time, and is now a museum filled with historical items like furniture and musical instruments. While we were there, it started pouring, so we hung out in the pavilion of the house and sung Row Row Row Your Boat. When the rain finally let up, we went to the floating market to have dinner. We sat on the stairs leading down to the canal as our food was prepared on a boat. At seven, candles were lit for the king to officially begin the celebrations that will last until Tuesday.
On the work front, I wrote a short article on trade and the environment for the ITD website’s ITD Monitor, a section where they keep track of current trade issues. In addition, I have been in touch with someone from the economic division of the US Embassy, and I going to call him on Monday to discuss the status of the US-Thai FTA. I plan to get in touch with my contacts from FTA Watch and Focus on the Global South this week as well and try to set up interviews, although I can’t do anything until Wednesday, when everyone goes back to work.
Posted by abbysmit at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)
