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Fes office in Bangkok |
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Fes office in Bangkok
Stefan Chrobot
Grand Amarin Tower, 23rd Floor, 1550 New Petchburi Road,
Makkasan Ratchathewi,
Bangkok 10310
Thailand
Tel : 02 652 7178-9
Fax :02 652-7180
E-mail :
shrobot@fes-thailand.org
chrobot@FES-Thailand.org info@fes-thailand.org
Website : www.FES-Thailand.org
Categories: Foreign, Farlang, German, Foundations, Ngo's
Company Profile: In early 1991 Thailand experienced the most
recent of the many military coups in its history. In March 1992, after
the elections for parliament, one of the leaders of the coup, General
Suchinda, allowed himself to be named Prime Minister, although he had
promised not to do this. |
As a result there were street protests; these had broad support
and lasted for weeks. In May 1992 the military violently suppressed these
protests, with much bloodshed. The king intervened, the general resigned, and in
September 1992 there were once again elections, which were the starting point
for a number of reforms of the political system leading to a
(re-)democratization of the country.
In 1997 Thailand proclaimed a new constitution, with the goal of consolidating
democracy. The constitution obliged the government to establish various
independent institutions, such as a Constitutional Court, administrative courts,
a Human Rights Commission and an Election Commission, which are to control
government in a system of checks and balances, to ensure the rule of law and
clean and fair elections. The consolidation process is, however, by no means
completed. One can still ascertain large democratic and participatory deficits
in the political culture.
The financial and economic crisis, which began in July 1997, hit Thailand hard.
The most visible signs of the crisis were the collapse of numerous financial
institutions and firms, an increase in unemployment and underemployment and the
social problems that accompanied this. After some recovery, the economy slowed
considerably again in the year 2001. The high public debt and the high
indebtedness in the agrarian sector remain a cause for concern as, too, does the
large number of bad loans and the unemployment, which has stagnated at a high
level. The informalization of the labour market by sub-contracting and other
means is on the rise, leaving an increasing number of workers unprotected by
labour and social protection legislation. Long-term issues that need to be
addressed are the educational system and Thailand’s low research and development
capacities.
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Thailand works in the following areas:
The Foundation supports efforts to consolidate the democratic stipulations of
the new constitution in the political culture. Special consideration is given to
human rights education, the promotion of women in politics, the strengthening of
the democratic function of the media and the support of public debates on
important social and political issues.
The Foundation further supports efforts to enact central elements of a social
market economy. Here the main focus is to strengthen the trade unions as a force
for social reforms by improving their organizational structures and by
increasing their competence in social and political issues, by supporting the
dialogue between workers, employers and the government as well as by promoting
trade union women and women in the informal sector in their efforts to fight for
their social and economic rights.
The target groups of the projects of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation are decision
makers and opinion leaders in politics and civil society, both at the local and
the national level. The Foundation has partners in the trade unions and in
organizations that are close to the trade unions (including the Thai Labor
Museum, which the Friedrich Ebert Foundation helped found), government
ministries (above all the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare),
non-governmental organizations, especially women's organizations, organizations
promoting democracy and human rights, and in universities (Thammasat and
Chulalongkorn).
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation has had a cooperation office in Thailand since
1970 |
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