Japan-Thailand

The Japanese and Thai governments started exploring a possible bilateral FTA in 2001-2002, but official negotiations didn’t start until February 2004. They concluded their talks in April 2007 and the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) came into force on 1 November 2007.

The FTA is comprehensive, covering trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights, agriculture, competition policy, etc.

It was strongly opposed by social movements both in Thailand and Japan. Thai groups mobilised against the FTA’s provisions on patenting life forms, toxic wastes and investment. One special concern was that the Japanese would take advantage of the deal not to ship Thai healthworkers to Japan (as under Japan’s FTAs with the Philippines and Indonesia) but to operate an exclusive health facility in Thailand, for Japanese people, who would be flown in to avail of the best medical personnel Thailand has to offer — who would then be unavailable to treat poorer Thai citizens. A major row also erupted around the legalities of Thailand’s interim military regime pushing through the ratification and entry into force of the deal during their hold on the country after the September 2006 coup. Japanese groups mobilised particularly on the potential of the deal to increase Japan’s exports of toxic waste to Thailand.

last update: May 2012
Photo: Paul the Seeker / CC BY 2.0


| 26-Jun-2011
The Thailand Restaurant Association (TRA) warns that foreign food chains are posing a greater threat to Thai restaurant operators amid government indifference and failure to promote the local industry.
The Nation | 21-Feb-2011
Thailand should produce about 700,000 skilled labourers to serve the investment influx from Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises after the ongoing revision in the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (Jtepa).
| 23-Apr-2010
The government should set up an agency to follow up the implementation of the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) in order to make it more effective, says the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).
The Nation | 29-May-2009
The Asean-Japan Free-Trade Agreement will take effect for Thailand early next month, and the Kingdom will see enhanced benefits on top of its own bilateral trade pact, a senior commercial officer said yesterday.
Thanh Nien | 20-Sep-2008
A free trade agreement between Vietnam and Japan will bring new opportunities for Vietnamese products to enter the Japanese market thanks to lower tariffs, a senior official says.
AFP | 2-Nov-2007
Japan and Thailand held their first meeting to implement a bilateral free trade pact, which took effect Thursday despite concerns among Thai workers.