Planning for ASEAN free trade area
began 17 years ago
but measures to help Thai farmers just beginning now
By Jon Fernquest 
Work
towards implementing the new Asean Free
Trade Area (AFTA) began
17 years ago in 1992. During the intervening years the Agriculture Ministry did little or nothing to get Thai farmers ready to make the transition to more competitive markets for agricultural produce in Thailand.
Today's article discusses the measures that were taken by the Commerce Ministry and a new government agency created to deal with this specific problem.
Farmers of rice, oil palms, silk and coffee are all expected to be hard hit by the new free trade agreement (FTA).
Read previous articles on the impact of the FTAs that began in Thailand at the beginning of the year (Read article #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5).
Today's article begins after the vocabulary:
implementing -
making a plan reality, doing and carrying out a plan
Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) - the grouping of Southeast Asian states working together to make trading in the region easier (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand. Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia) (See Wikipedia)
intervene - in between
intervening years - the years in between (from 1992 to 2010)
did little or nothing - they did nothing (ok, they probably did something but that was almost nothing)
transition - change
measures - actions that are intended to achieve or deal with something มาตราการ
deal with problem - solve a problem (or at least lessen negative effects)
specific - one thing exactly (not anything)
hard hit - hurt badly
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) - an agreement between a group of countries to eliminate many tariffs, quotas and preferences on goods passing between them (See Wikipedia)
impact - an effect or influence (usually negative) ผลกระทบ
Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) - the grouping of Southeast Asian states working together to make trading in the region easier (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand. Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia) (See Wikipedia)
intervene - in between
intervening years - the years in between (from 1992 to 2010)
did little or nothing - they did nothing (ok, they probably did something but that was almost nothing)
transition - change
measures - actions that are intended to achieve or deal with something มาตราการ
deal with problem - solve a problem (or at least lessen negative effects)
specific - one thing exactly (not anything)
hard hit - hurt badly
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) - an agreement between a group of countries to eliminate many tariffs, quotas and preferences on goods passing between them (See Wikipedia)
impact - an effect or influence (usually negative) ผลกระทบ
Local News
AGRICULTURE
Academics complain farmers not safeguarded from Afta impact
5/02/2010Kultida Samabuddhi
Farmers' advocates and academics are taking the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry to task for failing to safeguard Thai farmers from the effects of the Asean Free Trade Area.
Unlike the Commerce Ministry, which had laid down several measures to shield the farm sector from the agreement's impact, the Agriculture Ministry has done nothing to help farmers get ready for trade liberalisation, said Pattamawadee Suzuki, an economics professor at Thammasat University, yesterday.
academics - teachers
in a university, professors
safeguard - protect from danger
impact - an effect or influence ผลกระทบ
advocates - people who strongly and public support something ผู้สนับสนุนความคิด
take to task - find fault with, criticize, complain about problems
shield - something that protects you from harm เกราะป้องกัีน
sector - a part of a country's economic or business activity ภาค (เศรษฐกิจ)
trade - the business of buying and selling things
trade liberalisation - reducing restrictions, taxes, and regulation that prevent trade from happening
safeguard - protect from danger
impact - an effect or influence ผลกระทบ
advocates - people who strongly and public support something ผู้สนับสนุนความคิด
take to task - find fault with, criticize, complain about problems
shield - something that protects you from harm เกราะป้องกัีน
sector - a part of a country's economic or business activity ภาค (เศรษฐกิจ)
trade - the business of buying and selling things
trade liberalisation - reducing restrictions, taxes, and regulation that prevent trade from happening
''The Afta was sealed in 1992, which means that [agriculture] officials have had up to 17 years to boost Thai farmers' competitiveness, but they have failed to come up with any measures,'' Ms Pattamadhwadee said.
Afta reduced the tariffs on thousands of Asean products to between zero and 5% from Jan 1 this year. As one of the world's major farm goods exporters, Thailand is particularly concerned about the tariff cuts on 23 farm items.
boost
- to increase; to strengthen เพิ่ม; ทำให้มีกำลังมากขึ้น
competitiveness - how well you do at an activity (like farming or manufacturing) compared to others (lower price? higher quality?)
particularly - especially, or more than usual โดยเฉพาะ
concerned - worried about something มีความกังวล
tariff - tax on imports
tariff cuts - reducing taxes on imports
competitiveness - how well you do at an activity (like farming or manufacturing) compared to others (lower price? higher quality?)
particularly - especially, or more than usual โดยเฉพาะ
concerned - worried about something มีความกังวล
tariff - tax on imports
tariff cuts - reducing taxes on imports
The Commerce Ministry expects half of the 23 farm products to suffer a negative impact from Afta, including garlic, onions, rice, tobacco, maize and palm oil. These impacts range from an influx of cheap produce from neighbouring countries to the mixing of poor-quality imported goods with high-quality farm products produced in Thailand.
Ms Pattamawadee said the Agriculture Ministry should have helped farmers cut their production costs and increase their yield per rai by introducing new farming methods and technologies.
suffer,
suffer a negative impact - have something bad happen to you
negative - bad ที่เป็นด้านลบ
maize - a tall plant grown in many parts of the world for its yellow seeds which are eaten as food, made into flour or fed to animals ข้าวโพด
range - a number of different things that are of the same general type ขอบข่าย, ประเภท
influx - a large number of people or things coming in to a place การหลั่งไหล การไหลบ่า (เข้าไปยังที่ใดที่หนึ่ง)
yield - an amount of something produced ผลผลิต
negative - bad ที่เป็นด้านลบ
maize - a tall plant grown in many parts of the world for its yellow seeds which are eaten as food, made into flour or fed to animals ข้าวโพด
range - a number of different things that are of the same general type ขอบข่าย, ประเภท
influx - a large number of people or things coming in to a place การหลั่งไหล การไหลบ่า (เข้าไปยังที่ใดที่หนึ่ง)
yield - an amount of something produced ผลผลิต
She was speaking at a seminar yesterday inaugurating the Policy Institute for Farmers' Welfare, National Food Security and Community Empowerment.
The ministry should also improve the farm database, which provides key information on agriculture, farmers and their farms. This would help the government devise sound policies and measures to shield Thai farmers from the adverse consequences of the pact.
inaugurating - starting
something for the first time
welfare - the health, comfort and happiness of a group of people or whole society
security - making a place safe and free from danger
food security - the availability of food within a country, if the people in a country do not have access to a regular healthy diet there can be internal rebellions within a country (See Wikipedia)
empowerment - giving power
improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
database - a large amount of information stored in a computer in an organised way ฐานข้อมูล
key - most important ที่สำคัญ
devise - have an idea for some system or machine and create a design for it
sound policies - good and correct policies (not flawed)
adverse - having a negative or harmful effect on something ในทางลบ, เป็นผลร้าย
consequences - results of effects of something ผลที่ตามมา
pact - agreement
welfare - the health, comfort and happiness of a group of people or whole society
security - making a place safe and free from danger
food security - the availability of food within a country, if the people in a country do not have access to a regular healthy diet there can be internal rebellions within a country (See Wikipedia)
empowerment - giving power
improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
database - a large amount of information stored in a computer in an organised way ฐานข้อมูล
key - most important ที่สำคัญ
devise - have an idea for some system or machine and create a design for it
sound policies - good and correct policies (not flawed)
adverse - having a negative or harmful effect on something ในทางลบ, เป็นผลร้าย
consequences - results of effects of something ผลที่ตามมา
pact - agreement
The newly established agency, which comes under the Prime Minister's Office, serves as the government's think-tank on agricultural policy.
In the ministry's initial study, those expected to be hardest-hit by the agreement include 3.7 million families of paddy farmers, oil palm planters (180,000 families), silk farmers (140,000) and coffee producers (29,000).
newly established
- just started
now
think tank - an organization that does research for hire (See Wikipedia)
policy - a set of plans or action agreed on by a government, political party, business, or other group นโยบาย
initial - early; first ในเบื้องต้น
initial - happening at the beginning of a process ในเบื้องต้น
hardest-hit - received the greatest negative effect
think tank - an organization that does research for hire (See Wikipedia)
policy - a set of plans or action agreed on by a government, political party, business, or other group นโยบาย
initial - early; first ในเบื้องต้น
initial - happening at the beginning of a process ในเบื้องต้น
hardest-hit - received the greatest negative effect
(Source: Academics complain farmers not safeguarded from Afta impact, 5/02/2010, Kultida Samabuddhi, link)
