THAILAND
Military Exports from Canada (1990-1999)
Year
Military Value
of
Equipment
Military
Types
Exports
1999
1,5,6,10,11
6,269,569
1998
1,3,6,10,11,18 37,174,639
1997
1,3,4-6,7,10,11,18
14,680,084
1996
1,3,4,6,7,
10,14,15,18
4,814,385
1995
1-4,6,7,10,11,13
1,874569
1994
1,2,4,6,7,10,11,14 20,621,270
1993
2,6,7,10,11,14,18
620,488
1992
6,7,10,11,14
598,815
1991
1,2,4,6,10,11,14
3,025,846
1990
1-4,6,10,11,14
1,821,740
Total $91,501,405
Sources: Export of Military Goods from
Canada, Annual Reports 1990-1999. Published by the Export Controls Division,
Export and Import Controls Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, Government of Canada. Web site: <http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/~eicb/>
-----------------------------------
Examples of Canadian Military Exports (1990s)
Bell Helicopter Textron
• 20
Bell 212 military helicopters
$146
million (1993-1994)
Ploughshares Monitor, March 1996
• Bell
JetRanger military helicopter
$1.5
million (Jan.1996-Jun.1997)
Ploughshares Monitor, Sept. 1997
Bristol Aerospace Ltd.
• CRV-7
rocket weapons system
Value
unknown (1990)
Ploughshares Monitor, June 1994
Para-Ordnance Manufacturing Inc.
• 200
handguns for Thai police
$100,000
(1996)
Ploughshares Monitor, Sept 1999
Oerlikon Aerospace Inc.
• Air
Defence Anti-Tank systems
Value
unknown (1994)
Ploughshares Monitor, Sept. 1995
SNC Industrial
Technologies Inc.
• Ammunition
for small arms
(export
dates and value unknown)
Ploughshares Monitor, Sept 1999
Spar Aerospace Ltd
• 1
Tactical Air Navigation System
$1
million, 1993; $1.3 million, 1994
Ploughshares Monitor, Sept. 1995
-----------------------------------
Canadian Government Promotes Military Exports
Military Trade Shows
In 1999, Industry Canada promoted two
military exhibitions in Bangkok:
Securitex Thailand (International Safety
& Security Systems Equipment Exhibition) and Defence Asia (International
Defence Equipment Exhibition & Conference)
Source: "Aerospace and Defence
Exhibitions and Conferences," Trade Team Cda., Industry Canada web site.
---
"In view of the expected increased sales
potential, Canadian firms wishing to identify and pursue business with the Thai
military are advised to explore market opportunities now, including through
meetings with potential local agents. Opportunities in the Thai defence sector
include: communications equipment/systems, anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems,
all-weather systems, personnel and attack helicopters, vertical take-off and
landing aircraft, aircraft maintenance, shipyard management, early warning
systems, rapid deployment equipment and training programs in all three forces.
Source: "Impact of the Asian Economic
Crises on the Thai Defence Market," Our Market Reports, April 2000. Cdn.
Trade Commissioner Service, Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
<http://www.infoexport.gc.
ca/docs/view-e.asp?fn=76480&lg=0> and the Cdn. Embassy in Thailand.
-----------------------------------
Human Rights Violations (1999)
The government released a summary of a
Ministry of Defence report on the military’s violent suppression of 1992
pro-democracy demonstrations in Bangkok in which more than 52 were killed and
nearly 700 injured. The fate of dozens
who went missing during the demonstrations has not been revealed.
Prison conditions
Prolonged shackling and severe overcrowding
was reported in prisons. African and
non-Thai Asians were most at risk of ill-treatment. A Burmese migrant worker was severely beaten by immigration police
at a detention centre.
Refugees
and immigrants
There are three categories of people from
Burma in Thailand: (1) Karen and
Karenni ethnic groups, considered “displaced people” by Thai authorities; (2)
migrant workers from all groups, but particularly Shan, some 100,000 fled human
rights violations in Burma. They were
considered “illegal immigrants” and risk arrest and deportation and (3) Burmese
political activists, who must register with the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR).
In
1999, 14,000 Karen and Kar-enni asylum-seekers from Burma arrived in Thailand,
fleeing forcible relocations, forced labour and other abuses. Thousands more Karen asylum-seekers were
stopped by the Thai army. Two refugee
camps which had been attacked by armed opposition groups from Burma in previous
years were moved further inside Thailand.
Following
a hostage-taking at the embassy of Burma, the Thai government announced that
all young political activists from Burma, who are recognized by the UNHCR, must
enter a Safe Area to await resettlement
to third countries. By November, 750
people had reportedly registered. The
police arrested over 20 Burmese political activists and held them in the
Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok.
In
November, immigration authorities arrested thousands of migrant workers from
Burma and deported them to the border.
Some bribed Thai officials and remained in Thailand. Others, with well-founded fears of persecution,
were returned to Burma with no opportunity to claim asylum.
A
member of Thai army paramilitary unit raped two Shan female migrant workers
from Burma. In November, Border Patrol
Police raped a female migrant worker from Burma. There were no known disciplinary actions.
Source: Amnesty International Report 2000.
<http://www.amnesty-usa.org/ailib/>
-----------------------------------
Labour Rights Violations (1999)
The State Enterprise Labour Relations Act,
adopted by the illegitimate military government in 1991, abolished state
employees’ unions, cutting membership in half.
The Act, which denies union membership to 330,000, has not been repealed
or reformed.
State
Enterprise Employees’ Associations (SEEAs) replaced state sector unions and
received their assets. SEEAs have a
limited advisory role, cannot bargain collectively, strike, form national
federations or join existing private sector unions.
Workers
trying to perform union activities were sacked at the Government Dairy
Promotion Organisation at Thai International Airways.
Labour law
The 1975 Labour Relations Act (LRA) says
civil servants cannot unionise. Private
sector unionists can be discriminated against and fired. The LRA does not protect those organising
new unions. Many company-controlled
unions exist. Employers use subcontracting to avoid collective bargaining. A military government decree (1991) obliges
private sector unions to register advisers.
Advisers without licences face a year in prison.
“Essential
services” are broadly defined. Those
striking illegally face fines or imprisonment.
Onerous bureaucratic conditions hinder the establishment of federations
or confederations. Unions cannot employ
full-time leaders. Only Thai nationals
enjoy freedom of association.
The
International Labour Organisation criticised the government’s draft amendment
to the LRA. The LRA did not
sufficiently protect against anti-union discrimination, it excluded public
employees and state workers from unions, banned strikes in much of the private
sector, required a majority vote of employees to strike and required union
officials to be Thai nationals. It was
approved by the Cabinet.
Workers struggles
In January, 163 workers made a collective
bargaining demand to Siam Steel Service Center Public Co., owned by the
Commerce Minister’s Chief Adviser.
Management refused to bargain, saying workers’ wages should be reduced.
The company then closed without notice, contrary to procedures outlined in the
Labour Protection Act.
When
a union was formed in January at Thai Pak Co., which produces plastic for
domestic use and export, 13 organisers were fired on false charges.
Workers
at state-owned enterprises protested against a privatisation bill. State-owned electricity generating authority
workers led protests in April.
A
union organiser was fired at Bangkok’s Central Hotel and management refused to
pay compensation.
In
March, Alcan Nikkei Thai Co., a Japanese-Canadian-Thai joint venture, targeted
unionists, including the general secretary of the Aluminium and Metalworkers’
Union. When it failed to sack 62 union members
en masse, it ordered them to not come to work.
The union’s legal objections were not accepted by the Labour Court.
In
May, Thai authorities banned an ICFTU union conference on “Democracy for
Burma.”
Intimidation
In August, the Triumph Co., which
manufactures sportswear, filed a massive suit for damages from employees
alleged to have lowered production.
Workers had demonstrated when they were refused a raise. Thugs were sent to intimidate them and dogs
were unleashed on their demonstration.
Source: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade
Union Rights (2000), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
-----------------------------------
Child Labour Violations
* 212,100
aged 13-14 and 2,159,600 aged 15-19 are working (ILO, Yearbook of Labour Stats,
1999)
* Forced
or bonded child labour is a serious problem. (EI Barometer, 1998)
Where Children Work
* Of
1,062 child beggars in 1999, 80 were Thai, many aged 6-10. Gangs recruit and
kidnap children from Cambodia, Burma, Bangladesh. (ILO-IPEC, Children in
Prostitution, Pornography & Illicit Activities, 1999)
* Children
clean and sell sea food, at constant risk of injury from sharp knives and
tools. (IPSR, Child Labour in Thailand’s Fishing Industry, 1995)
* 2,442
children work in deep-sea fishing. (U.S. Dept. of Labor, Forced & Bonded
Child Labour, 1995)
* Bangkok
had 1.4 million child workers in underground manufacturing units. (Child
Workers in Asia, Jul.-Sept. 1993)
Prostitution and Trafficking
* Estimates
of children sold for sex are from 100,000 (UNICEF) to 800,000 (Sold for Sex, 1998, citing CPCR)
* At
least 2,500 girls, mainly from Southern China, were trafficked to Thailand in
1995. 20,000-30,000 women and girls
were trafficked from Burma in 1994.
(DEPDC, Child Workers in Asia, Apr.-Jun. 1999)
* There
are 200,000 prostitutes in Thailand: 20-25% are children. (ECPAT International,
Apr.24, 2000)
Source: <http://www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/thailand.html>
-----------------------------------
“Thailand has a large and productive
workforce.... Minimum Daily Wage Rates
[are between] US$2.97 and 3.70.”
Source: “Doing Business in Thailand, A
Briefing Kit,” July 2000. Canadian Embassy, Thailand <http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/geo/html_documents/76122-e.htm
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