Burma border town Mae Sot
may become special economic zone
By Jon Fernquest |
Mae Sot, a town on Thailand's eastern border with Burma, has been experiencing rapid economic growth recently.
The district surrounding Mae Sot may be turned into a special administrative area or special economic zone along the border. A Tak-Mae Sot railway project has also been proposed.
Today's article doesn't spell out exactly what this special status would mean.
It surely means increased local autonomy, so that local business people can make their own decisions without interference from the central Thai government. This could be good or it could be bad, so a study will done first to find out what might result from this increased autonomy:
To prepare a draft bill on Mae Sot City, the panel would first study three special administrative areas - Bangkok, Suvarnabhumi and Pattaya - and draw comparisons with those in other countries such as Shenzhen in China...Initially, Chulalongkorn University's political science faculty would be responsible for studying the pros and cons of the Mae Sot City special administrative area prior to any further action.
"At the moment, we need to survey the whole area that will be under the special local administrative area such as Mae Sot municipality, tambon Tha Sailuad municipality and tambon Mae Pa administration organisation."
Several different areas, each with a different function, are proposed:
The special local administrative area combines Mae Sot municipality, tambon Tha Sailuad municipality, and tambon Mae Pa administration organisation.Mae Sot municipality is a business centre while tambon Tha Sailuad municipality is a centre of Burma-Thailand border trade, tourism and logistics.
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Tambon Mae Pa administration organisation is a key agricultural area and home to factories.
Many questions remain to be answered. What are the advantages and disadvantaged of increased local autonomy? What about the rights of Burmese migrant workers in the textile factories? Will they suffer as a result of this local autonomy? Will local autonomy allow for corruption to go undetected?
For further reading, read a previous Bangkok Post article on the plight that migrant workers in Mae Sot face. (Source: Bangkok Post, Business, 06-12-07, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
special administrative area - an area with a special government
special economic zone - an area with a special government
spell out - provide details
status - official position and description of who you are, along with rights and advantages
interference - unwanted involvement (makes things difficult for people already there)
a study - a piece of research on a subject
a panel - a group of people discussing an issue
Shenzhen - a city near Hong Kong that has been a special economic zone and has received a lot of foreign investment since the 1970s, also one of the largest ports in China (See Wikipedia)
political science faculty -
the pros and cons of - the good points and bad points of
prior to any further action -
survey - look at something and evaluate it carefully
municipality - a town and the area officially within the town, the local government in a town
logistics - moving goods from place to place and storing them in warehouses
home to - place where it is located
autonomy - ability of a group to make its own decisions, rather than be controlled or influenced by outsiders
local autonomy - when a local area makes its own decisions
migrant workers - workers who move to
undetected - people do not see it happening
