Thailand declares readiness to tighten cooperation with US

[webfact]

Thailand declares readiness to tighten cooperation with US

 

BANGKOK, 29th September 2017 (NNT) - The government has declared its readiness to tighten cooperation with the US. 

Deputy Prime Minister, Somkid Jatusripitak on Thursday told reporters that his meeting with Mr. Wilbur Ross, the US Secretary of Commerce had touched on the cooperation between the two countries in many areas, such as trade, investment and technology. 

Mr. Somkid said that he had assured Mr. Ross of Thailand’s readiness to further cooperate with the US, after acknowledging that the two governments had interacted less with each other in the past few years, when Thailand has been working on a national reform process. 

According to Mr. Somkid, the US Secretary of Commerce has expressed confidence that Thailand will still be the center of ASEAN while noting that he believes that greater clarity should emerge on the two nations’ cooperation, during Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha’s upcoming visit to the US. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Wilbur said that he is confident the meeting between the leaders of Thailand and the US will be a good opportunity for the two nations to tighten ties.

 

-- nnt 2017-09-29

[wakeupplease]

The bullS>>> never stops here does it, Sir I hope you can explain to trump why there is such a big trade imbalance and why you put so high import tax on USA goods, but most of all why you lie about just about everything from tourist arrivals to the strong baht.

 

 

[farang62]

May your meeting with POTUS be rewarding and fruitful.

[yellowboat]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

According to Mr. Somkid, the US Secretary of Commerce has expressed confidence that Thailand will still be the center of ASEAN while noting that he believes that greater clarity should emerge on the two nations’ cooperation, during Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha’s upcoming visit to the US. 

So Mr. Somkid is acting as translator for the Commerce Secretary. Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma will one day relieve Thailand of its self bestowed title.  It is a crappy place to do business under the junta. 

[klauskunkel]

"I am confident that Thailand will still be the center of ASEAN... (in a geometric sense)"

[BuaBS]

Thailand , the hub of cooperation , with China , Russia and the US.

[Yann55]

Thailand declares readiness to tighten cooperation with US

 

Now here's a headline that could lead to all kinds of salacious jokes, but I wouldn't dare ...

[Yann55]

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

So Mr. Somkid is acting as translator for the Commerce Secretary. Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma will one day relieve Thailand of its self bestowed title.  It is a crappy place to do business under the junta. 

 

Your last sentence indicates that you did not do business here before the junta, or if you did, you must have done it within some kind of miraculous bubble. As far as I know, there are mostly two kinds of Westerners doing business here in Thailand :

 

1. Giant corporations, who factor in the corruption parameter at all levels including of course the highest, and make money anyway because they're operating on a very large scale. If they stop making money, they pack up and leave. Political changes have not affected these businesses, not in the least. There was corruption, there is corruption, so the formula here is summarized in the well known French saying : 'Plus ça change et plus c'est la même chose' (the more things change, the more they stay the same).

 

2. Expats who like this country for all kinds of reasons (but mostly one reason) and end up investing their savings in small(ish) businesses, a high percentage of which are gogo-bars. They also have to deal with 'administrative' corruption, it's not easy, but it is not worse now than it was under former governments. Way back. Depending on how savvy these 'entrepreneurs' are, their businesses can be successful, but most of them merely survive because the 'farang' keeps injecting money. The market study prior to opening is usually non-existent, as are the management or marketing skills, because for most of them it's a first time experience. For some it's a retirement pastime, for others it's a high stake risk and for the latter, a balcony-jump kind of ending is sadly not rare.

 

The situation in Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma or other Asean countries is very similar, and in some cases, worse.

[yellowboat]

1 minute ago, Yann55 said:

 

Your last sentence indicates that you did not do business here before the junta, or if you did, you must have done it within some kind of miraculous bubble. As far as I know, there are mostly two kinds of Westerners doing business here in Thailand :

 

1. Giant corporations, who factor in the corruption parameter at all levels including of course the highest, and make money anyway because they're operating on a very large scale. If they stop making money, they pack up and leave. Political changes have not affected these businesses, not in the least. There was corruption, there is corruption, so the formula here is summarized in the well known French saying : 'Plus ça change et plus c'est la même chose' (the more things change, the more they stay the same).

 

2. Expats who like this country for all kinds of reasons (but mostly one reason) and end up investing their savings in small(ish) businesses, a high percentage of which are gogo-bars. They also have to deal with 'administrative' corruption, it's not easy, but it is not worse now than it was under former governments. Way back. Depending on how savvy these 'entrepreneurs' are, their businesses can be successful, but most of them merely survive because the 'farang' keeps injecting money. The market study prior to opening is usually non-existent, as are the management or marketing skills, because for most of them it's a first time experience. For some it's a retirement pastime, for others it's a high stake risk and for the latter, a balcony-jump kind of ending is sadly not rare.

 

The situation in Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma or other Asean countries is very similar, and in some cases, worse.

None of the above.  The Li and Fung model is preferable:  If you want to buy the best quality zippers at the lowest prices, you go to Vietnam.  If you want do something which requires patience, you go to Thailand.  Relying on Thailand exclusively is financial suicide if not worse as you stated. 

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand declares readiness to tighten cooperation with US

Or would that be the Thai government's diplomatic reaction to US expressed readiness to strangle Thailand if it doesn't cooperate, ie., trade and regional security?

Remember that diplomacy is the art of talk and not of action.

[InMyShadow]

7 hours ago, wakeupplease said:

The bullS>>> never stops here does it, Sir I hope you can explain to trump why there is such a big trade imbalance and why you put so high import tax on USA goods, but most of all why you lie about just about everything from tourist arrivals to the strong baht.

 

 

Errm master card and world tourist organization today confirmed tourist arrivals are going through the roof! 

[Thaidream]

Tourist arrivals may be up for Chinese; MIddle Easterners; Asean to include Malaysia and Japan but down for Westerners.  That means places like Phuket; Pattaya and Samui which are geared for Western tourists are not going to get much of this business unless the tour operators bring them in. However, since most of the tours are zero dollar- the Western themed business will eventually go out o business. Possibly an investment in a halal restaurant or a hotel that cates to Middle Easterners would be a good gamble.

[connda]

On 9/29/2017 at 8:47 AM, BuaBS said:

Thailand , the hub of cooperation , with China , Russia and the US.

I knew gals in high school who'd date three guys at a time!  Funny that later in life they always had problems maintaining a relationship.  

[connda]

On 9/29/2017 at 6:27 PM, Thaidream said:

Tourist arrivals may be up for Chinese; MIddle Easterners; Asean to include Malaysia and Japan but down for Westerners.  That means places like Phuket; Pattaya and Samui which are geared for Western tourists are not going to get much of this business unless the tour operators bring them in. However, since most of the tours are zero dollar- the Western themed business will eventually go out o business. Possibly an investment in a halal restaurant or a hotel that cates to Middle Easterners would be a good gamble.

In Chiang Mai, I talk to vendors, shop owners, and other business people.  Farang tourism is drying up is almost a unanimous consensus.  That's hitting them in the pocket book.  These people don't benefit much from the group tours of foreigners from other Asian countries streaming around in tuk tuks.  Big change since I got here 10 years ago.

[mark131v]

On 28/09/2017 at 11:41 PM, webfact said:

Thailand declares readiness to tighten cooperation with US

 

BANGKOK, 29th September 2017 (NNT) - The government has declared its readiness to tighten cooperation with the US. 

Deputy Prime Minister, Somkid Jatusripitak on Thursday told reporters that his meeting with Mr. Wilbur Ross, the US Secretary of Commerce had touched on the cooperation between the two countries in many areas, such as trade, investment and technology. 

Mr. Somkid said that he had assured Mr. Ross of Thailand’s readiness to further cooperate with the US, after acknowledging that the two governments had interacted less with each other in the past few years, when Thailand has been working on a national reform process. 

According to Mr. Somkid, the US Secretary of Commerce has expressed confidence that Thailand will still be the center of ASEAN while noting that he believes that greater clarity should emerge on the two nations’ cooperation, during Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha’s upcoming visit to the US. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Wilbur said that he is confident the meeting between the leaders of Thailand and the US will be a good opportunity for the two nations to tighten ties.

 

-- nnt 2017-09-29

 

And there they go again thailands great and good demonstrating their uncanny ability to read the minds and discover exactly what those pesky farrangs are thinking...

 

Either that or it is just a steaming pile of made up excrement.....