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Thailand

The Thailand Country Programme of Focus on the global South has been in operation since 1997 and covers all thematic areas of Focus work with the emphasis on Deglobalisation, Reclaiming the Commons and Climate Justice. The key objectives include:
• To advance alternative economic and social policies toward social justice;
• To enlarge and defend the political space of social movements, community organizations, and the public in the country’s decision making processes;
• To build and strengthen the solidarity of the social movements across Asia and globally. The methodology adopted since the inception of the programme is micro-macro issues linking and coalition building for national advocacy.

One of the national coalitions which Focus has been involved in initiating and facilitating is FTA Watch, a coalition of social movements, NGOs, and activist academics working on FTAs and WTO issues since 2003. FTA Watch has made a significant contribution in the democratisation of treaty making procedure in Thailand through its campaigns for constitutional reform and the promotion of alternative organic law on the procedure. More recently, the Thai Working Group for Climate Justice (TCJ) was created as a national platform for engagement on climate change issues and related policies. At the regional level, Focus Thailand Programme is active in building links and space where civil society groups in the ASEAN can work together to promote a more progressive, people-centred regional cooperation.

Latest Articles

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An Open Request to the MRC Council to Pass a Resolution Calling for the Cancellation of the Xayaburi Dam
Wednesday, December 14, 2011 - 15:10 Your Excellences: On the occasion of the Mekong River Commission’s Meeting of the 18th Council, the Save the Mekong coalition, a network of civil society groups and NGOs from within the Mekong region and around the world, send this open letter urgently calling upon the MRC Council to pass a resolution calling for the cancellation of the Xayaburi Dam. This MRC Council meeting represents a prime opportunity for the Mekong country governments to demonstrate their commitment to the...
Civil Society Workshop on Carbon Markets in South East Asia
Thursday, October 6, 2011 - 12:25 We invite civil society representatives from the South East Asian region to a workshop on the state of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the future of carbon markets. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was created with the aim and responsibility to tackle global climate mitigation and advance sustainable development. In recent years the CDM has been heavily criticized for not achieving this dual objective. Part of the problem lies in the lack of proper means for public engagement and the CDM’s lack...
Food, Livelihoods & Climate Change in the Mekong Region: Summary Report of International Workshop
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - 12:40 From August 9-11, 2010, Focus on the Global South, the Foundation for Ecological Recovery/TERRA, World Rainforest Movement (WRM), International Rivers, Bank Information Centre and the Thai Working Group on Climate Justice (TCJ), organised a workshop entitled “Food, Livelihoods and Climate Change in the Mekong Region”. The workshop was held at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and attended by 52 representatives of local networks and civil society organizations from Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand,...
Occasional Paper 11 (10b): Agrofuels – A boost of energy for the Mekong region?
Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 11:28 by Rebeca Leonard This background paper seeks to brief readers on the extent of the development, production and consumption of agrofuels, particularly liquid fuels for transport, in the Mekong region.  The area of focus comprises the countries of the Mekong River Basin, that is, flowing downstream north to south, the southernmost prefectures of China (Yunnan and Guangxi), Lao PDR, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.  The varied political, economic, and social contexts of this region make it...
Rights of Mother Earth: Revitalizing Natural Resource Struggle in Asia
Monday, July 4, 2011 - 15:56 On April 24, 2010, the Universal Declaration of The Rights of Mother Earth was proposed and launched at the People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Ensuring the rights of Mother Earth, the Declaration recognizes that all living beings have the responsibility to uphold the balance of the natural world and protect Mother Earth’s harmonious functioning. In this panel discussion on The Rights of Mother Earth, organized by Thailand’s working group for Climate...