Thailand’s drug trade under scrutiny

There has been a lot of commotion in Thailand following the US President George W Bush’s two-day visit next week to the country as a part of his final Asian tour. Patpong area of the capital has been particularly targeted by the Thai police to get rid of the infamous market of fake DVDs, imitation Swiss Watches and duplicate designer garments. The clean up comes as a blow to the tourists and bargain hunters as well as the shopkeepers who have been part of this trade for a long time!

It has been quite sometime since Thailand has been producing generic medicines of US patented pharmaceutical drugs. Washington recently downgraded Thailand onto its “priority watch list” of countries for severely violating the Intellectual Property Rights [IPR]. Bush’s visit gives Thai authorities another opportunity to convince the US power to remove itself from the watch list, though this is not primarily on the talking agenda.

The US has pushed for stronger IPR protection in the proposed free trade agreement [FTA] than is currently mandated by member states to the World Trade Organization. The sidelined WHO official said that thousands of Thais would be at risk from the FTA’s tougher IPR requirements because they heavily rely on access to locally produced cheap medicines to survive.

Local interest groups, particularly the farmers who have suffered from previous free trade deals, demonstrated their displeasure with US trade policies the last time Bush visited Thailand in 2003. More of such demonstrations are likely when Bush visits the country next week.