Thailand Summer 06

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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 June 30, 2006 12:12 AM

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Posted by: maxkar at July 4, 2006 12:39 PM

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