Trade deals: the prosperity machine Thailand is ignoring

Some letters published in this column seem to be driven by trendy slogans rather than genuine analysis. Facts that contradict these superficial slogans and their black-and-white worldview are disregarded. 

A prime example is Clara Holzer fulminating in several letters against Thailand joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) trade pact. Ms Holzer claims that, “It is now understood that the TTP is a disaster for Thailand.” Really? By whom? Your peer group? 

This statement cuts off any possibility of debate by stating as true something that’s not proven at all. On the contrary, the Commerce Ministry reports that joining the TPP would boost Thailand’s GDP growth by 0.7 per cent. Holzer is dismissive: “Only a minister of commerce would say this.” Yet is there a more competent authority here than the Commerce Ministry? I don’t think so. 

Trade deals signed in the last few decades have eliminated barriers, made products and services cheaper and allowed comparative cost advantages to come into play, which has in turn boosted ordinary people’s disposable income. 

Initiated by the United States, the TPP has been demonised by critics who like to believe that country is the source of all evil in the world. But, like it or not, the US is still the source of many admirable values. Holzer asserts that joining the TTP would make Thailand a colony of the US. In doing so she confuses mutual dependence with colonisation. Globalisation, mutual dependence, greater prosperity and diminishing conflicts are what the world should be striving for. Or does Holzer want to go back to isolationism and bullying by the strong, which characterised the colonial era? 

She also takes aim at “infamous” GMO products, studiously ignoring the positive results of genetically modified food. This view is elitist. Ms Holzer might be able to afford expensive organic vegetables, but can the poor? The fact is that GMO has the potential solve the hunger problem for a burgeoning world population. 

Of course in every trade deal there will be some losers. But taking a utilitarian view, the sum of the benefits is usually greater than the negatives. The lifting of trade barriers, along with freeing up movement of people, would lead to a more prosperous and peaceful world. Thailand should join the TPP. 

Egon