By Anthony Kleven
Brussels must enforce its newfound approach to trade with Thailand.
The European Commission is to be applauded, having recently announced a commendable new values-driven global trade and investment strategy. This fresh approach will fuse jobs and growth with human rights and sustainability. It should leave the world in no doubt that a share of Europe’s riches comes at an ethical price – respect for human dignity, liberty and democracy. The message must be clear: no freedom, no profits.
With this in mind, it is wholly appropriate that Brussels’ morality-laden business strategy comes at the same time as the Commission is poised to turn its trade focus towards what it termed “the vital Asia-Pacific region.” After all, Southeast Asia is a region on the brink, standing on the cusp of economic success while democracy hangs perilously in the balance. And none more so than in Thailand, where an authoritarian regime is suffocating the remnants of democracy while at the same time attempting to charm the international business community. Brussels has the chance to put its actions where its mouth is and enforce this newfound approach to trade with Thailand.
The Bangkok junta, headed by General Prayuth Chan-o-cha is desperately trying to fool the world. Soon after having seized power in May 2014, Prayuth personally addressed the Thai-European Business Association (TEBA), a group representing 80 Thai and European investors, pledging to do “everything” for Thailand to remain a foreign investment hub. He scoffed at suggestions of dictatorial rule. Yet by that point, Prayuth had already detained opponents without charge and outlawed freedom of assembly, by banning gatherings of more than five people. Since, he has shut down media outlets for having the temerity to criticize the regime, a trend which Human Rights Watch fears will have a “choking effect,” anathema to democracy.
Yet, despite this wholesale repression, the junta continues to court global business. Prayuth’s government recently announced an international roadshow, where investment will doubtless be handed the oxygen of incentives, while freedom continues to be strangled.The European Union (EU) has rightly been consistent in criticizing Prayuth and his henchmen. Just a month after the coup, the EU announced an end to official visits and the suspension of free trade talks with Thailand. Within the last several weeks, the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a lengthy motion demanding an end to Bangkok’s persistent abuses. But now Brussels should make good on these well-meaning statements and declarations. Europe should make the trade that Prayuth so desperately craves dependent on democratic reform.
Read the full story at The Diplomat