Thai national pride rides on WTO job

Thai national pride rides on WTO job

By Chris Johnson

BANGKOK (Reuters): The contest to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO) may seem academic elsewhere, but in Thailand it is stirring deep feelings.

Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi, the Thai candidate to succeed Renato Ruggiero as WTO director-general, is carrying the hopes of a nation whose self-esteem has been badly battered by nearly two years of economic crisis.

National pride is riding on Supachai's candidacy and if he doesn't get the job, after leading the race for almost six months, morale will be severely dented.

"It could be seen by the public as a blow to Thai pride and international prestige," said Kobsak Chutikul, head of the economic affairs department of Thailand's foreign ministry and leader of the Supachai WTO campaign.

According to soundings among the WTO's 134 members earlier this year, Supachai was the clear favorite to head the free trade body when Ruggiero steps down on May 1.

But WTO decisions are taken by consensus rather than voting and in recent days it has become clear that several countries do not want Supachai to get the post and may block him.

The United States, in particular, has come out strongly in favor of former New Zealand Prime Minister Michael Moore, who has the backing of several labor organizations but is opposed by other nations in both the developing and developed world.

Some envoys at WTO headquarters in Geneva have suggested the deadlock between the Thai and New Zealand candidates could open the way for the selection of a third contender, former Canadian trade minister Roy MacLaren.

The post of WTO director-general is largely symbolic but it has a high profile on the international stage and Thailand, and many fellow Asian countries, feel it should go to a candidate from a developing country rather than the first world.

"It is the first time ever that a Thai person has run for an important international position, as a representative of a world body instead of just Thailand," said Akapol Sorasuchart, Thai government spokesman.

Expected at the end of 1998, the decision on who will succeed Ruggiero has been delayed repeatedly and is not now expected until after Easter.

Few people are prepared to predict the outcome of the race, but some diplomats say Thailand may have made a serious tactical error last year by not paying enough attention to the powerful organized labor lobby in the United States.

Trade union officials say Moore, a former union leader, supports the linkage of human rights and labor issues with trade and has wooed American labor organizations, who have put pressure on their government to back the New Zealander.

"On the issues that matter to labor -- core labor standards -- Moore has made his case. Supachai has been less clear about this," said a foreign labor official in Thailand.

Thailand is now trying to address this issue and has not given up hope of getting support from U.S. labor groups.

But there is a discernible sense of gloom among some Thai officials, who appear to be preparing for a possible defeat.

Kobsak says Thailand, the first nation to plunge into recession after the Asian crisis was triggered by the devaluation of the baht, needs the kind of morale boost it would get if Supachai was chosen to run such a prestigious body.

"Apart from a sense of national pride, it would be a boost in a time of crisis," he said. "It is symbolic. It would be a morale booster for the Thai people who haven't had good news for a long, long time."

"Getting someone from Asia, from ground zero of the Asian crisis, could give a sense of confidence for the region."

But officials say there is a growing sense of alienation in Thailand from the WTO process and an anticipation of possible disappointment.

"The Thais have put an enormous effort into this campaign and will be bitterly disappointed if they don't get their man in," said one Bangkok-based European diplomat.