Thursday, May 20, 2010

Thai officials address Bangkok protests at seminar

Taipei, May 20 (CNA) Thai officials said in Taipei Thursday that they hope instability caused by some of the biggest civil unrest in Thailand for the last 20 years will be over soon and that Taiwanese investment and tourists visiting the Southeast Asian country will return to normal.

"I personally believe that this unfortunate situation will be short-term and will end soon...Thailand will put everything in order and come back as a peaceful place to live, " said Sorayut Phettakul, Thailand's deputy minister of industry, referring to the massive protests in Bangkok that have caused some 40 deaths since March.

Wanthanee Viputwongsakul, deputy executive director of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO) -- Thailand's representative office in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties, expressed hope that people will believe that the protests were taking place only in limited areas of Bangkok and that in most places, life was going on as usual.

However, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) raised the travel alert to red -- the highest grade on a four-color system -- for the greater Bangkok area, advising Taiwanese tourists against visiting the Thai capital unless necessary. The alert was orange -- also very serious -- for other areas in Thailand except for the resort area of Phuket island. Most media outlets around the world were also reporting that the situation in Thailand was very far from stable.

As of Thursday, there was still resistance in downtown Bangkok even after protest leaders surrendered and asked protesters to disperse. More than 20 buildings in Bangkok's main shopping district were still on fire as protesters continued to fight troops.

The Thai officials made their remarks in the 21st Joint Economic Cooperation Meeting between Taiwan's Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), which promotes bilateral trade.

The two-month long protest demanding the dissolution of the Thai parliament has devastated the Thai economy, with Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij cutting 0.3 percent off an earlier forecast of economic growth of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent this year.

The sector that has suffered the most is tourism, which accounts for 6 percent of Thailand's economy and 15 percent of its workforce. According to Thai government spokesman Puttipong Punnakan, hotel occupancy in Bangkok was down to 20 percent at a time when it is normally at 80 percent or 90 percent.

Responding to a question about the impact of the protests on tourism, Viputwongsakul described Taiwanese tourists as "more supportive" than others. Even though the daily average visa applications ranged from 200-300 -- down from around 1,000 per day before the protest -- the numbers were still a lot higher than those of Western countries, she said.

Her office did not advise Thai workers in Taiwan from going back home during the protests, she added.

"It appears that the situation has calmed down," she said.

In terms of investment, she quoted an unnamed media analyst who said that while investors might want to relocate their businesses away from Bangkok in the short term, the mid- to long-term investment climate will not be affected.

According to Deputy Economics Minister Francis Liang, Taiwan is the third-largest foreign investor in Thailand with more than 2,000 investment projects in the country.

He said that Taiwan, Thailand's 11th-largest trading partner, intends to further liberalize its economic relations and forecast that bilateral trade will see a steady upward trend.

Local businessmen are also pushing for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Thailand after Taiwan signs its proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China.

"Taiwan's Asian partnership will be affected by its increased trade with China (after inking the deal) . An FTA between Taiwan and Thailand would be an important element in fostering better bilateral relations, " said Alfred Chen, chairman of the CIECA's Thailand Committee. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J