Will WTO open trade talks hurt Thailand ?

[Guest]

well the WTO is having talks again , this time in Hong Kong ,

 

open trade is a nice concept ,

but it really hurts the small countries that cannot compete with larger countries in farming and manufacturing.

 

Big USA / European companies are pushing to lower barriers but still keep big corporate farmers getting government benifits.

 

I do not see it helping Thailand , the farmers already are pretty inefficent , but they provide jobs and food for the Thai people,

 

Thai manufacturing is getting pounded by Chinese compeition already , companies are not opening new plants in Thailand because 180 baht a day wages are 700 high

 

Anyway it will probably get pushed thru , and the smaller countries will lose out in the end

[chilli13]

you got it all wrong sir. try a readup on the local thai english news sources for starters. international news got it as well.

 

basically thai farming exports faces high import tarifs abroad on its key markets like japan, eu, us etc. so yes thailand is set to benefit if tarifs & state subsidising goes down

 

farmers in EU & US are the ones loosing out - get it?

[Guest]

I am not sure if thats true ,

 

The Japanese and Korean farmers are against it , and for good reason,

 

they know if cheap inports come in , that the farmers cannot compete and may go out of business,

But what happens when the exchange rate goes crazy or for some other reason imports of basic food skyrockets.

 

I think keeping a local food supply is important to any country,

 

We will see if the west stops the farm programs that keep their farmers in business, but I think its politically suiside and will not happen,

[chilli13]

"We will see if the west stops the farm programs that keep their farmers in business, but I think its politically suiside and will not happen"

 

dude your starting to show more depressingly ignorance by the minute

 

farmers in the west are a mere few percentages of the population while farming in LOS are some 50%. which one do you find more important politically?

[Guest]

Dude, ohh I like that

 

The ones that are important politically are the ones in your country,

 

So for Thailand its the Thai farmers , but opening up markets will only help the efficent farmers , which Thai farmers are not,

 

But the USA / Europe governments are the ones that will have to stop paying their farmers , and even though they are a small number they have big political power.

 

Open trade helps the big guys ,

it gives the small guys the idea that there is a "world" market ,

but the small guys will never see it.

 

But hey what do I know , I am just a "dude"

[chilli13]

Well ok I'm not totally disillusional either so surely wealth will never be distributed evenly across the world just because a few dudes in suits sits at some flanky office in HK & sign some papers.

 

Still it could help a bit removing a few trade barriers here & there & adjusting import, export tarifs along with removing state subsidaries for starters...

 

Finally it'd sit well with me if LOS instigated mandatory import quotas of high paid engineers in the same whim