Bangkok Post
16 OCTOBER 2005

Academics have voiced strong opposition to the Commerce Ministry's draft ministerial regulation allowing aliens to run financial and investment businesses with no licences required. They said the ministerial regulation, if put into effect, would allow aliens to dominate financial and investment markets and put Thais at a disadvantage.

The draft regulation, proposed by the Commerce Ministry, has been put on the agenda of Tuesday's cabinet meeting for approval, they said.

Charoen Khamphiraparp, deputy rector of Silpakorn University, said during a seminar at Thammasat University's faculty of law that the draft regulation was intended to exempt foreigners from having to seek licences to operate 20 other businesses including commercial banking, money lending, life and non-life insurance, pawn shops, warehouses, schools, theatres, stock trading, investment consultancy, management of mutual funds, management of personal funds, management of provident funds, credit lending for stock investments, stock trading consultancy, stock trading brokerage and acting as agents for buying and selling of open funds.

Mr Charoen said he was shocked after learning on the night of Oct 14, the 32nd anniversary of the Oct 14, 1973 uprising, that the draft ministerial regulation had already been forwarded for cabinet consideration.

This should not have been done while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was still abroad, he said, adding that the draft regulation certainly had the blessing of Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngarm, the government's legal expert.

He said the move was like handing weapons to foreign investors to kill Thais who would have no chance to fight back.

Mr Charoen said the government was doing more than it was required to do by the World Trade Organisation to facilitate free trade.

If the ministerial regulation is allowed to take effect in its present shape, Thailand would also have to accept investment regulations as proposed by other countries. Thailand could be sued for a large amount of compensation for damages, the same way American investors did in a landmark case to the Canadian government under the North American Free Trade Agreement, he said.

Mr Charoen called on the government to withdraw the draft regulation from the cabinet, conduct a study on its pros and cons and make the results known to the public.

Somchai Ratanasue-sakul, a law lecturer at the Thai Chamber of Commerce University, said the draft regulation lacked transparency as Thais engaged in such businesses had never been consulted.

The draft in itself was unconstitutional because it allowed international agreements without first having to receive parliamentary approval, he said.

Kannikar Kijtivejakul, representative of FTA Watch, a people's monitoring group, said the draft regulation was designed to facilitate free trade agreements that would benefit businesses of some people in or close to the government.

Thanabul Jiranuwat, an international law expert from Rangsit University, said the draft regulation, if approved, would override existing laws including the one on commercial banking. He said the draft regulation violated article 6 of the constitution which states that the provisions of any law, rule or regulation, which are contrary to or inconsistent with the constitution, are not enforceable.