highdiver

The money coming our of stock markets (all stock markets not only thailand) was mainly used to hedge the comitments to leverages that supported those stock purchasings in the first place. mainly the yen.

the cary tade in yen has created a rush to hedge in Yen so all those specultors are now running to buy Yen so they can pay back the yen loans they took.

the huge anount of money injected by Japans central bank was intended to meet this demand and avoid the apreciation of the Yen

however the Yen still went up. It just shows how incredible massive the cary tade in Yen was.

the Central banks in Europe and in te US are attemting to clear the credit crunch and the liquidity crunch by injecting Billions in a low rate as to support the economies.

so where did all ths money go.... I belive it went back to the stock markets. the big players once selling of the stocks to gurentee the leverage positions they had before are using the injected cheap money as a leverage attempting to raise the market again hoping that once the market goes up again every one joins in and they can sell and pay back the leverage.

In my view the problem will not go away. as the injection of the money eased the syptoms but not cured the problems.

the financial markets in US and in europe are still facing the same problem.

the desire to make higher yields and performance has made the greedy financial institutions build the subprime credit .

high risk credit was given at subprime mainly for the aquisition of housing and for private consumption.

The credit used has supported the rising realestae prices that supported in return more high risk credit.... and the bubble grew

those that borowed the mony were high risk and they still are. so they can not payback the loan.

the central banks in the west are now facing a very difficult position. if they continue to inject "cheap" money int the system they will depreciate the curency and create inflation. if they dont inject there will be a lot of people who will loose everything.

As for thailand... it will probably remain very stable..

in times of financial crisis there mainly 2 areas that remain calm. energy and food. people need food. and thailand is a food supplier.

forigner in Thailand seeting up a busines a legitimate one according to thai laws.

if through the BOI. registration, visa, workpermit etc... done in 1 week.

if through a good reputable expensive lawyer in Bangkok done in 4 weeks.

if done trough a lwayer who is a friend of a friend of your thai friend sister in law. then its probebly not legit, not set up properly and after spending time efforts and money it will be done in 5-6 months.

AND 24 hours to open a business - No, no, no - well, 24 hours after you've spent several months filling out forms and getting them processed and misdeliveries and misunderstandings, etc etc etc.....

but lads from Lancashire are not deterred by these facts. they keep on telling stories to entertain us.

and lets not forget the SG govement is a "pure" democracy that eductes for freedom of speach and is most accepting to critising residents.

If you don't like it, go home!

Read it again Sam.......

He's Thai

Ooops! Sorry! "Ta mai chop gaw kap barn!"

excelent.....

Beerguy - CHECK YOUR PM'S!

If any other Coco investor would like current information on what is happening, please PM me.

charma

why dont you share this with all. is there a reason for this to be on PM only?

And just to stoke the fire more...

Surayud tells British envoy: Extradition pact needs updating

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has told outgoing British Ambassador David Fall that the 1912 extradition treaty between Thailand and Great Britain needs revising.

The prime minister was speaking during the "Open House at Baan Phitsanuloke" broadcast on Channel 11.

"The Thai-British extradition pact is a bit outdated now," PM Surayud Chullanont told anchor Chaiya Yimvilai during the programme.

A bit outdated..........1912...........

LaoPo

i imagine when they signed it in 1912 the consideration were for the UK wanting to find escaped british that took refuge in Thailand.

P.S

Laopo ........ happy birthday.

Samui is a dead duck & has been for the past year or so. No resales whatesoever. All the clients that bought land & had dream homes built for whatever reason are stuck with them. Investment side is finished. Samui in general isnt easily accesable, expensive flights etc, Major flooding after only 10 minutes of rain, constant burglaries. It is very quite this year, restaurants, bars, real estate...nothing to do with the coup or exchange rate...over development has caused this. Dont expect to make money buying here. Also your baht will go a lot further elsewhere. If you are determined to buy here, bargain well....30%-40% less than asking price & the seller to pay fees, taxes. I speak from experience so be careful befor taking the plunge. Maybe take a look at Hua Hin or Chumphon

i beg to differ.

Samui is a live and well.

there is a market change over the past 5 years.

5 years ago mostly small time investoe buying land to build a private home. only 3 real agencies on the island

3-4 years ago medium investors buying land and developing it to sa,ll projects.about 50 agencies on the island

2 years ago more medium but entrance of larger scale development companies into the market. about 100 agnecis on the island.

this past year. real estate sharks of grand scale like leman br and raimond land are buyin big parcels of lands for development.

Thai investors also buyin land and property. there are now over 200 Agencies on the island..

the reason you dont see it is that they dont brag about it and that most of those deals are made by transfering shares of companies and not through land office or through local lwayers. those deals are made by the big shot lawyers from bangkok.

Most of the complaining and bitching about the situation is coming feom those small time developers who can no longer compete with the Big boys that are coming in. they have better marketing better leagal facilities and better service and support for potential buyers.

So the small time developer is not going to be making 500% profit any longer...

The Samui market is no longer a play ground for amatures and thrill seekers . its becoming a high end profesional big time business.

Regarding leases - Yes commercial building

The lease of immovable property for Commercial and Industrial purpose has increased from 30 to 50 years. In practice this will have limited application due to restrictions and conditions...

Demand and Supply

Samui is heading in a direction that cant be avoided no matter what we all wish for. (Maybe we still Dream of a unspoilt, charming secret Island - with some home comforts) I am sure the real locals felt the same way 20 years ago but the world keeps Spinning.

Samui will continue to develop not matter what anyone says (development) Yes to the point the Island looses its original beauty,charm that made it stand out or offer a alternative to places such as Phuket, but Markets/visitors change...just look at Phuket 6 years ago it wasn't sure what direction to go but but its a world calls destination now and visitor figures are rising.Thailand is in the race to develop and I cant blame them...Why cant places such as Phuket, Samui etc have some of the modern convineinces the mainland has to offer?

Its over development (again looking at other destinations in Thailand, I don't think this will be avoided)

Its amazing how many people buy these luxury Villas,or Rent or stay in boutique resorts so they can be away form the crowds Island fee but they all get the hotel car in to Chaweng to shop, party, eat when here and spend money and ultimately have a holiday.

It makes sense that the Island needs to compete with other famous international destination and attract families so therefore Samui needs all the things other locations also offer (Samui is not and will never be what it was 10 years ago) Is that Good or Bad? Somebody mentioned Greed, Is it greed?

If there is a new high tech branded Dept Store Will you shop there, eat there? the same thing were said when Lotus was being built, do you shop there? because the place is packed (literally) and there is a obvious demand for more amenities on the Island.

Malls/Dept stores are a Social part of modern life. Maybe tourist are tired of getting ripped of from various sellers on Chaweng and this is a good thing for the long term.

(Look at Bangkok Airways investment and expansion as proof - more flights more rooms) And a shopping Mall/Dept Store makes sense as the Island is planning, Marina, more Golf course's, International School, Thai University, water park, Brand resorts...

With over 800,000+/Visitors year and a increasing local community it justifies a small Dept store being built i.e smaller scale of Central Phuket and the fact is the islands visitors will most likely double in the next 5+ years makes good business sense and a improved lifestyle for those of us who live here and don't want to live in the past or cut of from the world.

The same question was asked when Phuket decided to build Phuket Central shopping Mall.Tourists shop, expats and not forgetting the local Thais who have good incomes in resort destinations/jobs (Hotels, service Industry, business owners) all of whom want to have a modern lifestyle.

Total agree with your analisis.

the location is going to be on the main ring road just befor big C.

this is the land that Sabai Thani put up for sale a long time ago.

I hope they finish it quicly and do a good job so all can enjoy shopping in a modern mall. and the competition will at the end drive prices down for th benefit of all shoppers.

Here's a link to some opinions from the experts. The picture is still very unclear from what they say.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortun...tune/index.html

thanks for the very good link.......

one can only hope that th OP will read it.

thank you for the info.

it was my undesrstanding that the Amity needed to be extended every 10 years and that if any party wished to teminate within those 10 years they need to give a 2 year notice.

as the amity was not renewd again after the 10 years expires is it not terminated??

please elaborate if you can.

According to the US Embassy and I have it in writing, the AER had been renewed on a month to month basis after the last one year extension expired awaiting conclusion of the FTA negotiations. Earlier this year the Thai government told the US the treaty would remain in force until further notice, again awaiting conclusion of the now stalled FTA negotiations. The negotiations are expected to resume once an elected government is in place. At present, Treaty business applications are still being process by both governments.

changmai american

i asked the us embessy about the amity and the proble you pointed out about the labour department.

it seems that the US embessy confirms that to have a work permit for a company under the treaty you must still follow the local laws.

this is the answer

Referring to your email message below, I would like to inform you that the Treaty of Amity has been extended until further notice. Then, if you are interested in applying your company under the protection of the Treaty of Amity, please feel free to do so.

For the applying work permit license at the Department of Labor, there are some conditions that the company needs to meet, such as

1. the capital investment fully paid up 2 million baht per a work permit license, or

2. the foreigner receives at least 700,000 baht revenue annually, or

3. the foreigner paid tax 50,000 baht annually, or

4. hiring 4 Thai employees

and more..

If the American company can meet either one of the above conditions, the license will be issued without any problem. However, there will be more details in applying the work permit license, I would suggest you to consult with our legal business services at http://www.buyusa.gov/thailand/en/bsp.html for further information.

Regards,

Kritsananan Setasuvarna (Nan)

Commercial Assistant/System Administrator

U.S. Commercial Service,

American Embassy,

Room 302, GPF Witthayu Tower A,

93/1 Wireless Road,

Bangkok, 10330 Thailand

Tel: 662-205-5282

Fax: 662-255-2915

someone forgot to the bill.....

Took my wife on holiday to Oz a few years back. Flew to Brisbane and rented a car up to Noosa. We had only gone a few kilometers north when we came upon a road construction crew hard at work. Well, the wife starts shouting stop, stop. Naturally I stopped immediately thinking she was ill. She grabbed the camera, jumped out of the car and started taking pictures of the guys at work. The men were somewhat shocked to see a Thai lady taking snapshots but took it all in stride doing their best macho man poses. After returning to the car I asked her what in the world that was all about. She said, "never see farang work before, must have photo or nobody Thailand believe me".

Huge drop in the onshore baht now. It'd be cool if it got to 36, but whatever. Who knows?

don't hold your breath Jim. what we are seeing since a few days is not Baht weakness but Dollar strength (except vs. JP¥). the jury is still out whether this dollar strength is temporary or lasting.

now it all depends what the FEDs will do. if all those investors are going toredeem the funds into cash there will be a very high demand for the USD.

Confucius say... may you live in intersting times...

it seems that USA, Europe, Ausralia, Japan central banks are injecting billions every day to avoid liquidiy and credit crisis while Thailand at this moment is not...

quite obviously no liquidity crisis in Thailand. so why should the BOT inject cash?

I know... but its fun saying it over and over again to all those that have been warning us about thailands crisis.

i think we need to change the title of the thread.

it should be...

USA, Europe, Japan, are in deep crisis. thailand however is not.

menwhile...

SET Index 758.42 +7.73 23,553.80

Mrs. Tarisa said the central bank would also keep a close watch on the sub-prime lending crisis in the US because it was uncertain how the problem would drag on, or escalate.

Although the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis would ignite a liquidity crunch in many major countries' financial sectors, she said, Thailand had not experienced the problem.

So, the central bank saw neither need to inject money into the financial system nor issue any special measures to oversee the problem because it had an only indirect effect on Thailand.

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=31105

I find it amusing that after all the lectures we got from our "dooms day brigade" about thailand in a crisis....

it seems that USA, Europe, Ausralia, Japan central banks are injecting billions every day to avoid liquidiy and credit crisis while Thailand at this moment is not...

the bigest problem is that many pension funds have invested in those huge hedge funds looking to make a higer yield.

what will happen if those hedge funds go under?

pension funds will lose money.

so cenral banks and goverments will need to bail them out.

There is nothing happening here that wasn't foreseen a couple of years ago when we had the thread "Get out of $dollars$ now".

We could see then that there would be trouble if folk in America went on buying houses and things that they couldn't afford with money they hadn't got.

Watch now to see if the carry trade unwinds. If that happens, some big hedge funds will collapse. They have gambled, big time, on the yen staying low.

Remember what happened to Baring's, when Jim Leeson gambled that the yen would recover, and it didn't?

There could be a lot of similar revelations.

And there could be a lot of anger and litigation.

UK pension funds are being hard hit, and people don't like it when they feel that their savings are vulnerable.

I note that there is already a class action being mounted in the USA against Moody's for rating dodgy CDO assets as suitable for investment.

Be wary of stocks on all exchanges, even for the longer term. As the 'baby boomers' start to retire, the pension funds will be selling stocks to provide monthly pension payments, and there is no sign that there will be enough buyers to keep the prices up.

good post.

the bigest problem is that many pension funds have invested in those huge hedge funds looking to make a higer yield.

what will happen if those hedge funds go under?

If anyone wishes to have a detailed look at the bloodbath in RED:

It's my bloody Birthday as well, today

From the UK to mainland EU - Russia - Eastern Europe - Israel into Africa and South Africa:

August 16, 2007:

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/wei_region2.html

In the meantime the USA markets dived into the red again, further down.

LaoPo

Happy B-day Lao! The bloodbath will continue when the Asian markets open tomorrow. I warned here many months ago about the hedge funds and and their highly leveraged investments in the Asian stock and currency markets, and also about all the cheap highly leveraged money coming out of Japan. The Yen carry trade is unwinding very rapidly at a most inopportune time, its almost like the perfect storm. Hedge funds, mutual funds and currency traders will all be forced to exit postitions in order to meet redemtions and as the panic continues more redemtions will be made. Friday could be really ugly in the U.S. because it is an options expiration Friday. Cash is certainly king and the movement to the safety of the U.S. dollar has already begun.

Vegas you are spot on!!!

in may we disussed this in great detail about the hedge funds position policy and what it will create as they are not under any controll.

I remember more then one poster mocking us about this.....

Now the bubble has burst cary taderd are on the loose tying to dump all the high yield assets and pay back the loans to the Japanese

The yen is shooting up and it will continue to shoot up as more and more of those positions will be seeking to buy yen.

The USD will shoot up as well as all those investors in hedge fund will want to redeem and liquidate.

today has started with the australian bank buying curency to support the aussie dollar. japan and us are dumping cash on the market to support the credit crunch.

it does not look good.

the SET has gone down back to 3 months. however its still up from January.

FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JULY

677.13 673.71 699.16 737.40 776.79 859.76

as per who isdoing what?

for the past 2 months it was mostly the local that were selling and the forigenrs that were buying

and some of our Gloomy dooms day members were convinced that this is an indication of a crisis as the thais know why they are selling.

todays result gives a little insight.

Individual 10,229.94 6,058.25 4,171.69

Institution 3,284.43 2,235.83 1,048.60

Foreign 2,975.07 8,195.36 -5,220.29

So the thai locals are buying cheap what they sold expensive a month ago.

I guess the Thais knew what they were doing

ChiangMaiAmerican

you got me realy intersted in this so i went to llok for information.

I have found the following please correct it where aplicable.

Background

In 1966 Thailand and the US entered into the Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations (the “Treaty of Amity”) to promote friendly relations between them and to encourage mutually beneficial trade and closer economic and cultural ties between their peoples.

Under the Treaty of Amity, American nationals, either natural or juristic persons, can conduct business in Thailand on the same basis as Thai nationals, except for six reserved activities, namely (i) communications; (ii) transportation; (iii) fiduciary functions; (iv) banking involving depository functions; (v) exploitation of land or other natural resources; and (vi) domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products.

The Treaty of Amity states that it will remain in force for 10 years and continue to be in force thereafter until terminated by one year’s written notice. It is reviewed every 10 years.

The existing privileges given to American nationals, under the Treaty of Amity are greater than those extended to other foreign nationals. This is in violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (“GATS”) which requires member nations to extend most favored nation treatment (“MFN Treatment”) equally to every WTO member. Until now, however, the Treaty of Amity has been valid because in 1995 Thailand requested temporary exemption from MFN Treatment for 10 years. The exemption period will expire on 1 January 2005. By the end of this year, therefore, Thailand must develop WTO compliant strategies, which will also benefit Thailand’s trading relationships.

Present

In compliance with WTO rules, Thailand stated that the Treaty of Amity will not be renewed. However, the existing privileges given to American nationals will instead be included in a new bilateral trade agreement, the Thailand-US Free Trade Agreement (“Thai-US FTA”). Under the Thai-US FTA, it is probable that existing privileges will be extended still further, particularly in the services sector. Under WTO rules, all privileges must now be extended to all WTO members, creating a real dilemma for Thailand. Beyond services, the Thai-US FTA will cover trade, investment and intellectual property protection.

In 2002 Thailand and the US entered into a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (“TIFA”) in order to facilitate and liberalize trade and investment between them. The TIFA is the fundamental stepping stone to the Thai-US FTA. Nevertheless, negotiations on the Thai-US FTA have not yet been officially finished

It was however, expected that negotiations will be concluded in the middle of 2005.

in December 2005 the Amity was not renewd and the new FTA agreemnet has not yet been signed.

The model for the Thai-US FTA agreement is the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, the first free trade agreement between the United States and an Asian nation.

makes an interesting reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States...Trade_Agreement

so according to this the Amity that is in violation of WTO is no longer valid. hence the thai goverment or the labour department are not violating an amity that does not exist anymore.

true or false??

It is true that, since the expiry of the MFN (most favoured nation provision) in Jan 2005, the Treaty of Amity has been in violation of Thailand's WTO commitments but it is not true that the treaty no longer exists. It can only be terminated if either side gives one year's notice in writing. So far neither side has given notice, so it continues to be in force despite the WTO violation. Other WTO member states are now entitled to take action with the WTO to sue Thailand for compensation for their companies on the basis that they have not been granted equal status with Americans. I believe that they have been hanging fire on this issue waiting to see what happened with the FBA amendments. The FBA amendments would also put Thailand in breach of its WTO commitments, as members are under an obligation to consult other members before enacting legislation that significantly restricts free access to trade in services. The US would probably be willing to join in a case seeking compensation for the amendments even though they have the treaty. Americans still don't have access to financial services or Annex 1 and 2 activities under the treaty and there is a lot of red tape and general Thai government ill will and obstruction towards treaty companies. Thus the Americans would rather work for general liberalization to the benefit of all WTO members rather than cling to the treaty, while the other WTO countries don't see any benefit in giving Thailand an excuse to unilaterally terminate the treaty by challenging it at the WTO.

The WTO's reasoning behind granting the 10 year MFN was obviously that 10 years should be long enough for Thailand to reform its foreign investment laws so that all WTO member countries' rights in Thailand would at least as good the rights the US has under the treaty. so that the treaty would no longer be needed. Unfortunately they didn't count on the stubborn recidivist nature of the Thai vested interests that would rather have a bigger share of a shrinking pie that is only big enough to feed themselves than a slightly smaller share of a growing pie that will be big enough to feed every one. Their good friends in Burma provide their role model.

thank you for the info.

it was my undesrstanding that the Amity needed to be extended every 10 years and that if any party wished to teminate within those 10 years they need to give a 2 year notice.

as the amity was not renewd again after the 10 years expires is it not terminated??

please elaborate if you can.

Builder Italian-Thai Q2 profit almost trebles

Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:00 AM ET

BANGKOK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Italian-Thai Development PCL <ITD.BK>, Thailand's biggest construction firm, said on Wednesday its net profit almost trebled in the second quarter.

The company said in a statement it had a net profit of 522.9 million baht ($15.33 million) in the April-June period, up from 178.3 million baht a year earlier.

Construction revenues rose 29.5 percent to 11.8 billion baht in the second quarter and construction costs rose 28.5 percent to 10.9 billion baht, the company said in its financial statement.

TABLE-Thai GMM Grammy Q2 net profit up 39 pct, tops forecasts

GMM Grammy PCL is Thailand's largest music and entertainment group.

Net profit 136.86 vs profit 98.14

Another point regarding your statements on how immigrants are treated in America. The Thai Town article I linked mentioned the El Monte sweat shop incident. I was familar with that incident however I did not know until today that the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC now has an exhibit related to sweat shops in general and that incident in particular. The workers were illegal aliens yet US law still protected them.

From the Smithsonian Institute:

"On August 2, 1995, a multi-agency task force led by the California Department of Industrial Relations raided a fenced seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte, California, a small community near Los Angeles. What they found was one of the most horrendous U.S. sweatshops in modern times. Law enforcement officers arrested eight operators of a Chinese-Thai, family-owned garment sweatshop and freed 72 illegal Thai immigrants. The workers, most of them women, had been held in virtual slavery behind fences tipped with razor wire and forced to sew garments in conditions significantly worse than those found in most sweatshops."

http://americanhistory.si.edu/sweatshops/elmonte/elmonte.htm

Despite the fact the Thai workers were illegal aliens and subject to deportation, the US allowed them to remain and issued them visas.

From the Smithsonian Institute:

"Celebration of first day of freedom, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, August 13, 1995

After the raid, the workers were held in custody awaiting deportation. Nine days later, they were released as material witnesses pending trial of the sweatshop operators. Concerned for the workers' safety if returned to Thailand, the federal government granted them legal residency with the right to work in the United States. All expect to apply for citizenship after residency requirements have been met. "Since being set free from El Monte I was able to experience a good side of America. So now I have come to see there are good aspects to this country. . . . I believe this country is truly a land of freedom . . ."

-- Praphapan Pongpid, El Monte sweatshop worker, 1996"

http://americanhistory.si.edu/sweatshops/elmonte/3t16.htm

that is great that USA has done that. it is indeed a great country.

as we are disucssing the realtions of thailand with the west. I am sorry i cannot give you an example of a similler cases in thailand as it never had sweat shops where western forigners were working ileagaly. I never heard of a police busting a sweat shop and finding Americans working in slave conditions and maybe thats why you don see it in local media.

however Thailand dos have its ileagal migrants mainly from Burma and they deport them back as any country does with ileagal migrants.

As for assiting them or attempting to preserve human rights of the migrants. Thailand to has NGO and there is one right in your city its called MAP Migrant Assistant Programme.

www.mapfoundationcm.org/Eng/map.html

ChiangMaiAmerican

you got me realy intersted in this so i went to llok for information.

I have found the following please correct it where aplicable.

Background

In 1966 Thailand and the US entered into the Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations (the Treaty of Amity) to promote friendly relations between them and to encourage mutually beneficial trade and closer economic and cultural ties between their peoples.

Under the Treaty of Amity, American nationals, either natural or juristic persons, can conduct business in Thailand on the same basis as Thai nationals, except for six reserved activities, namely (i) communications; (ii) transportation; (iii) fiduciary functions; (iv) banking involving depository functions; (v) exploitation of land or other natural resources; and (vi) domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products.

The Treaty of Amity states that it will remain in force for 10 years and continue to be in force thereafter until terminated by one years written notice. It is reviewed every 10 years.

The existing privileges given to American nationals, under the Treaty of Amity are greater than those extended to other foreign nationals. This is in violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which requires member nations to extend most favored nation treatment (MFN Treatment) equally to every WTO member. Until now, however, the Treaty of Amity has been valid because in 1995 Thailand requested temporary exemption from MFN Treatment for 10 years. The exemption period will expire on 1 January 2005. By the end of this year, therefore, Thailand must develop WTO compliant strategies, which will also benefit Thailands trading relationships.

Present

In compliance with WTO rules, Thailand stated that the Treaty of Amity will not be renewed. However, the existing privileges given to American nationals will instead be included in a new bilateral trade agreement, the Thailand-US Free Trade Agreement (Thai-US FTA). Under the Thai-US FTA, it is probable that existing privileges will be extended still further, particularly in the services sector. Under WTO rules, all privileges must now be extended to all WTO members, creating a real dilemma for Thailand. Beyond services, the Thai-US FTA will cover trade, investment and intellectual property protection.

In 2002 Thailand and the US entered into a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in order to facilitate and liberalize trade and investment between them. The TIFA is the fundamental stepping stone to the Thai-US FTA. Nevertheless, negotiations on the Thai-US FTA have not yet been officially finished

It was however, expected that negotiations will be concluded in the middle of 2005.

in December 2005 the Amity was not renewd and the new FTA agreemnet has not yet been signed.

The model for the Thai-US FTA agreement is the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, the first free trade agreement between the United States and an Asian nation.

makes an interesting reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States...Trade_Agreement

so according to this the Amity that is in violation of WTO is no longer valid. hence the thai goverment or the labour department are not violating an amity that does not exist anymore.

true or false??

looks like iy going to get interesting