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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 June 20, 2006 05:58 AM