US plays nice guy nasty guy to Thailand

NASTY

"Moves in the US against Thailand - Bangkok Post
Bangkok targeted over breaking drug patents

A Republican congressman in the United States has called on President George W. Bush to suspend Thailand's status as a major non-Nato ally pending proof of the restoration of democracy in the kingdom. Mark Kirk submitted a bill to this effect amid sustained lobbying in the US against Thailand's overriding of patents for medicines to treat HIV/Aids and heart disease.

''Eight months after the military coup, despite promises by the military leaders to the contrary, Thailand still has not drafted a permanent constitution, held a referendum, or called elections,'' Mr Kirk said in the proposal which he tabled on May 17. The US President should ''terminate Thailand's status as a major non-Nato ally until he can certify to the Congress that democracy has been restored to the country,'' Mr Kirk said in further remarks to the speaker. He said he was ''introducing the Thailand Democracy Act of 2007 to push Thailand's military government to hold democratic elections''.

Thailand was designated a major non-Nato ally on Dec 30, 2003.

The status makes the country eligible for several benefits related to the purchase and maintenance of arms from the US, training, and participation in counter-terrorism activities.

Meanwhile, James V. deLong, special counsel to law firm Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert, deplored what he called '' a campaign of intellectual property theft'' by the government of Thailand. In a letter to four US government figures, he called on them to look into the matter and to ''act swiftly using any and all available political and policy tools at your disposal''. The letters were addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt, and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

In a separate move, the Washington-based Hundson Institute has sent a letter to the World Health Organisation's director-general, Margaret Chan, demanding the WHO ''investigate important quality and safety issues pertaining to HIV/Aids treatment in Thailand''.

Institute director Jeremiah Norris wrote: ''Thai patients deserve to be informed of the health consequences inherent in current treatment regimens, especially through the use of an anti-retroviral drug, GPO-VIR.'' He urged the WHO chief to sponsor an independent evaluation of GPO-VIR to prove that it is as safe and efficient as the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the drug's manufacturer, claims. The letter was also addressed to the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Thai Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla, and Suwit Wibulpolprasert, the Thai representative to the WHO.

This follows a recent move by American lobby group USA for Innovation, which published full-page advertisements in Thai newspapers claiming the locally-made GPO-VIR had an unusually high resistance rate among patients using it. The advertisements prompted the GPO to file a libel charge against the lobbyist on May 15."

Bangkok Post

NICE

"US ENVOY WANTS TO HEAL RIFT - Bangkok Post

Thailand's issuing of compulsory licences to bypass patents on Aids and heart drugs has rattled the multi-billion dollar pharmaceuticals business. The country has been closely watched, particularly by American firms holding patents, and by the US administration.

US ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce reflected on the issue in an interview with Apiradee Treerutkuarkul. Following are excerpts from the interview.

What is the US view of Thailand's announcement of compulsory licensing (CL)?
We understand Thailand's rights under Trips [the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] to use compulsory licensing. But it was meant to be the last measure. As far as the embassy is concerned, in terms of transparency, we did not have much advance notice at all that Thailand was going to go ahead with compulsory licensing. The public health minister said publicly that Thailand had tried to get drug companies' attention for two years. That is the minister's statement, but all I can say is that we at the embassy did not have any real warning that it was coming. And the spirit of the Trips agreement is that a compulsory licence is like the last option, and the preferred order of things is the country and the drug companies [first] try to negotiate a mutually acceptable price. Our preferred outcome [for the] US government is that Abbott [Laboratories] and the Ministry of Public Health come up with a mutually acceptable price, because the key here is finding the balance between the high cost of financing innovation and next-generation drugs and the need to be able to provide those drugs to poor people who are suffering from life-threatening diseases. Compulsory licensing is one way to do that, but it is hopefully the measure you use [after] trying everything else first.

Why was there doubt over the transparency of the process in the latest special 301 report of the Office of the US Trade Representative?

As for the special 301 report in which Thailand has been elevated to the Priority Watch List (PWL), what I want to make clear is that the decision was based on the whole spectrum of intellectual property rights (IPR), not just on the CL issue. In fact, the CL issue was just one among many concerns ranging from DVDs, music CDs, books, software and brand-name apparel. Had there not been a flap about CL, I suspect that Thailand would have been elevated to the PWL anyway because we have been hearing from both Thai and American intellectual property rights holders in Thailand that the situation in terms of enforcement has been getting worse. The flap over CL caused most people to conclude that it must be a form of retaliation. It is a timing issue more than anything. I believe that with the overall IPR problems in Thailand, even without CL there still would have been a decision [to put Thailand on the] PWL.

What is the stance of the US on balancing protection of intellectual property rights and humanitarian needs, especially on the issue of access to drugs in developing countries, including Thailand?

Frankly, there are extreme views on both sides. We all know about some of the publications like the Adelman article [in the Washington Times] in the US. Some charges and allegations have been made against the pharmaceuticals industry here.

As usual, the truth lies somewhere in-between ... The humanitarian issues are important and the Clinton Foundation's announcement that it would create a stockpile of drugs for 16 countries including Thailand, where they could make available expensive drugs for the poor, is a good example of creativity that is very useful in finding that balance, because the companies have to spend massive amounts of money to create an innovation and come up with new drugs to help people who need them. Are they supposed to bear the full burden? Are their stock holders supposed to bear the whole burden of the cost of the research, etc? There is an issue of subsidies, and whether some of the medicines should be subsidised by the governments of the countries. So there are a lot of different ways to do this, rather than looking at it in just black and white.

You also had an opportunity to bring pharmaceutical companies to meet the public health minister? What was that all about?

The role of the US government is to try to facilitate conversation and negotiation, striking the balance, suggesting creative ideas, etc. The only thing the embassy was doing in bringing some of the pharmaceutical companies to meet the previous minister [Phinij Jarusombat] was providing the opportunity for the ministry to hear from the companies. The role of the embassy was not advocacy on that particular issue, but simply door-opening. We do this for a number of ministers and a number of different sectors.

Facilitation of communication between American companies and the Royal Thai Government in every sector is one of the most important roles of the embassy. The more conversations and communication the better, as far as I am concerned....."

Full article : http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/22May2007_news18.php

The bill proposed by Congressman Kirk is a big nothing. It hasn't even gone to committee yet and I'll bet you it will never get out of committee. From the website Govtrack.us
"...Mark Kirk has sponsored 59 bills since Jan 3, 2001, of which 52 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted...."
Not exactly a major star in Washington. He doesn't even have any cosponsers to the bill.
If you're intrested in tracking this check out www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2382 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2382)

Now what his motive is in introducing the bill I couldn't say. Maybe a major constituent has an intrest? Are there a lot of Thais in his district? Maybe there is a major pharmecutical plant in his district? He could even be introducing it on behalf of another congressman who wants his connections kept secret. You have to ask yourself why someone would introduce dead legeslation in order to take a poke at another country.

[Aunty]

Thailand has broken the rules by stealing property that does not belong to it, and by not following due process which allows it to do that in times of geniune emergency. And there will be a consequence to Thailand for Thailand's theft.

And all your commie-pinko socialist hand-wringing, wailing and gnashing of the teeth is not going to change that.

Guys,

Thailand is supposed to be past masters of compromise. So, Why didn't they try and find a solution by pressure and negotiation.

Whichever way you look at it, it is theft. Thailand would not and does not like anything being done to them in any way, shape or form.

They have and do openly show scant disregard for patent and copywright, which many of you as visitors to Thailand have and will see.

I am no fan of Bush or Blair, but this is plain and simple, Black and White, THEFT.

There are procedures and guidelines laid down in the event of catastrophes and emergencies, these were not put forward or into practice or given as reasons for breaking international rules.

This is an extremely contentious issue, and I fully get the arguments for the pain and suffering of those who can't afford the costs.

The Governments responsibilities are to place these humanitarian issues at the top of their agendas and deal with them.

Instead, they are too busy playing "He said, She said," with past administrations.

[ikarus]

I totally agree with Aunty and I am quite surprised by WOWPAO anti-american stance.
As it was mentioned many times, Thailand could easily pay for needed Aids drugs by small fraction of a huge increase of its military budget. I completely agree with position of Gutierez:
Abbot is not responsible for Aids crisis in Thailand. When khun Thaksin introduced important government programs (after many years of Thai government doing nothing to help people with HIV), he also paid for it.

Thailand broke no laws. The US had already agreed with the WTO that poor and emerging countries could reproduce essential drugs avoiding the patent. So calling it theft is ludicrous. Now some in the US (not the Government ) are wriggling to try and get out of what it agreed saying "Oh that was supposed to be for emergency use" how on earth do you suddenly start to produce drugs in an emergency. Is AIDS NOT and emergency.

There is a problem which the World needs to tackle in that the laboratories of the West produce miracle drugs at great cost in research and development. They also make vast profits and have been known to overcharge tremendously for drugs until Governments have pressured them to be reasonable.

The Simplistic say - they invented it. It is theirs and they can charge what they like. If you can't afford it and you die then that's bad luck.

The Saints say - you are lucky to have the facilities to find these life saving drugs and should make money out of those who can afford them and let those who cannot have them at what they can afford in order to reduce deaths and misery.

Let's just have a little look at some figures from the CIA World Handbook to put things into proportion.

Persons living with AIDS US 950,000 - Thailand 570,000
Persons died of Aids US 17,011 - Thailand 58,000

GDP US $12,980,000,000,000 Thailand 585,900,000,000
The US is 20% of the whole World economy.

% GDP spent of military US 4.06 - Thailand 1.80

Population US 301 million - Thailand 65 million

GDP per capita US$43,500 - Thailand US$9,100

Abbott Laboratories 2006 in US$ Millions - profits up 4.2%
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v27/wowpow/Picture1-4.png

We have seen what happens when market forces are allowed to run free. South Africa just could not afford the drugs and people died in droves - yes there were other reasons but lack of drugs was the main one. International moral outrage forced the drug companies to allow their drugs to be suppled at a fraction of the previous price and agree to generics being supplied from India. There was no massive drop in the drug companies profits.

Let's not get too the up about the current situation with Abbott Laboratories . This is only a minor skirmish in the efforts to sort out an equitable solution. The problems are who pays for research and how many deaths per $ profit is reasonable.

[ikarus]

Wowpow,
You completely ignored my post. The numbers you threw on us almost totally irrelevant.
Is there an Aids crisis in Thailand? Yes. Who is responsible? Thai governments before Khun Thaksin which did absolutely nothing to help victims of Aids (your numbers regarding deaths from Aids in Thailand are too small because Aids rarely used as a cause of death before khun Thaksin era) except for condom campaign which, unfortunately, proved to be inefficient.
Does wealthy countries and individuals should help? Sure, yes, through charitable organizations. That is exactly what Clinton's foundation is doing. Can Thailand afford paying for programs introduced by khun Thaksin? Yes. In fact, programs were well calculated, introduced in phases and fully funded under khun Thaksin. Why junta do not want to pay?
Because they prefer to increase military budget. Who benefits from this increase? Your guess, wowpow. Were there consequences to Thailand action? Sure, yes. Lula broke the patent for Aids drugs in "poor" Brasil. It may very well have snow ball effect and not only for Abbot. Is Abbot charity? No, it is public for profit company which by definition acts in the interest of share holders. Can Abbot suffer if other countries follow example of Thailand? Sure. They can easily go out of business. Is America in dire financial situation? Sure, it has twin horrendous deficit. Dollar in the free fall. Can America ignore violations of IP? Absolutely not.
Does everything that Wowpow say on this issue is pure demagogery? ABSOLUTELY

[Aunty]

Oh stop indulging yourself, Tinkerbell. This is not only about Thailand's theft of HIV drugs, they have also stolen heart medication. Where's the public health emergency in that? All modern developed countries have high rates of heart disease, and guess what, twinkle-toes, that's a lifestyle thing of too much unhealthy eating. Instead of ripping off long suffering drug companies perhaps Thailand could invest some of its abundant resources in a proper health care system that educates its people on how to improve/maintain their health. Or is it just easier to cry poor and play victim and rip of the West? Sounds like the boy special ringing up his farang asking for urgent money to replace his 'stolen' cell phone - the phone he pawned to buy yabba or gamble with. It's easier to rip off the farang, than to attend to his own deficiencies. Ikarus is right. Thailand is to blame for its apalling HIV/AIDS stats, not the West's drug companies.

Of course, drug companies are just monstrous dishonest devouring businesses engorged on the profits they take from suffering patients with serious disease. Any chance they get to jack up their prices they do. Bastards. It's not like they ever have a set back you know, or something goes wrong which could cost them billions of dollars.




NZ Herald - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story ... d=10441177 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10441177)


Glaxo shares slump on heart scare

Wednesday May 23, 2007
Stephen Foley


GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's biggest drug-maker, is racing to shore up confidence in one of its most important medicines after a study in a respected US journal suggested that it dramatically increased the risks of having a heart attack.

The drug in question, Avandia, is taken by millions of Americans and others around the world who suffer from diabetes.

It contributed ┬г414 million ($1.1 billion) to GSK's sales in the first three months of this year.

A study published this week by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) analysed all the previously published data from studies of Avandia and calculated that taking the drug increases the chance of having a heart attack by 43 per cent.

The increase in the risk of having a fatal heart attack was even higher.

GSK immediately questioned the methodology of the study, which was conducted by Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the respected Cleveland Clinic in Ohio - but more than US$10 billion ($13.7 billion) was wiped off the value of the company in afternoon trading in the US in the wake of the study.

A GSK statement said the study was based on incomplete evidence and a methodology that the author admits has significant limitations.

The company said: "The NEJM paper is based on an analysis of summary information that combines a number of studies, which is not the most rigorous way to reach definite conclusions about adverse events.

"Each study is designed differently and looks at unique questions: for example, individual studies vary in size and length, in the type of patients who participated, and in the outcomes they investigate.

"The data compiled from these varied studies is complex and can be conflicting."

A spokesman for GSK said that it was conducting numerous long-term studies of Avandia, all of them being overseen by independent safety monitors. None of the monitors had flagged any safety concerns, he said.

Avandia is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, which is linked to obesity. Avandia helps sensitise the body to insulin and was considered a breakthrough for blood-sugar control.

GSK also sells pills that combine the active ingredients in Avandia with other drugs, marketing them under the brands Avandamet and Avandaryl.

"Unfortunately, [Avandia] appears to increase, rather than decrease, the most serious complication of diabetes, heart disease," Nissen wrote.

"Unless this can be refuted, which I rather doubt, then this is going to seriously damage one of the cornerstones of Glaxo going forward," said Paul Diggle, an industry analyst at Nomura Code Securities in London.

- INDEPENDENT

its like the US constition , i maybe be wrong here as im not a yank

goverment of the people , by the people, for the people In thailand its goverment of the people by the rich to surpress the poor

[Hmmm]

We're going over old ground here comrades. The forces of evil and their lazy apologists have already been exposed ....

http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/fo ... 11474.html (http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/us-thail-clash-over-ip-and-drugs-rights-abbot-give-way-t11474.html)

If you think that poor Thai AIDs sufferers should bear the brunt of arguments about how much profit is enough for a multi-billion dollar company's shareholders to bask in, or what proportion of GDP is reasonable for the US and Thai governments to spend on military hardware rather than health care, then you're a different man than I am Gunga Din.

IP in Thailand: Who's the Real Pirate?
Alan Sipress - Wahington Post

Once an epicenter of the AIDS epidemic, Thailand won international acclaim in recent years for its aggressive health campaign to address HIV, reducing the prevalence of infections and improving treatment for those with the virus. But when Thailand announced last year that it was seeking to cut the cost of treatment by allowing the sale of generic versions of two drugs for fighting HIV, the U.S. government and pharmaceutical industry yelled foul.

At the heart of this dispute are a pair of questions: When can patents be overridden for the sake of public health? And does violating patents now end up quashing the innovative drive that leads to life-saving medicine later on?

Thailand has been in negotiations with Abbott Laboratories and Merck & Co., which own the rights to the drugs, to see if they can reach a deal. But the deadlock continues. U.S. officials have alleged that Thailand is undercutting respect for patents. They put the kingdom on a watch list that could weaken its international trading position. Against this backdrop, Thai Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla led a high-level delegation this week to Washington for urgent talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Deputy Trade Representative John K. Veroneau.

Between meetings, Mongkol and his seven-member entourage stopped by Tuesday afternoon to see us at the Washington Post to talk about Thailand's take on intellectual property.

Mongkol and his aides told us they understand the importance of patents. They say they're wary of undermining innovation. But they say the poor of Thailand cannot afford the AIDS drugs, which cost about $2,200 per year of treatment. Thailand's goal is to create a tiered pricing system with the country's middle-class and foreign residents paying market rates while the poor get the drugs for much less.

Thailand says it can get generic versions of Abbott's Kaletra and Merck's Stocrin from India and may also produce these domestically. If these companies want to do business in Thailand, they should offer their drugs for no more than 5 percent over the generic cost, he said

Full article : http://blog.washingtonpost.com/posttech ... v=rss_blog (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2007/05/ip_in_thailand_whos_the_real_p_1.html?nav=rss_blog )

Thailand's goal is to create a tiered pricing system with the country's middle-class and foreign residents paying market rates while the poor get the drugs for much less.


Oh, yeah...like THAT's really going to work. Are you going to have to show your bank statement before they decide how much to charge you?

Thailand's goal is to create a tiered pricing system with the country's middle-class and foreign residents paying market rates while the poor get the drugs for much less.


Oh, yeah...like THAT's really going to work. Are you going to have to show your bank statement before they decide how much to charge you?

Likewise,

Foreign residents are not supposed to be here or allowed residency if they have HIV/AIDS. Are they?????

This is definitely what I have been informed!

Can you show me that in cut and paste wowpow, or I can try and look it up.

Kevin has kindly opened a new trail on the HIV/AIDS person being welcome in Thailand to avoid this trail being hijacked. Thank you.

WHO backs use of compulsory licensing - The Nation

The annual meeting of all 193 member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) ended yesterday in Geneva with a resolution to endorse the use of compulsory licensing to increase access to medicines. The resolution came after a 10-hour heated debate between developed and developing countries. The resolution was welcomed by Thailand and Brazil as it was the first official WHO stance on the controversial issue since Thailand utilised the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) agreement on overriding intellectual property rights last November, followed by Brazil recently.

In its statement released yesterday, the WHO said its assembly resulted in commitments from its director-general to provide technical and policy support to countries to use compulsory licences to make existing medicines more accessible and to draw up a global strategy and plan of action on the issue. "I am fully committed to this process and have noted your desire to move forward faster... We must make a tremendous effort. We know our incentive: the prevention of large numbers of needless deaths," said Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, in the statement.

A representative of Thailand's Public Health Ministry who attended the assembly said the resolution was very good news for Thailand. "We have fought to the last minute to convince other countries to agree with us," said the health official, who asked not to be named. He said Thailand and Brazil, the only two countries to issue compulsory licences to manufacture cheap generic versions of expensive drugs, played crucial roles in the debate to support the resolution, while the United States led the opposition. The US, he said, was the only country to voice its dissent on the resolution and was angered when its words were not heeded by other countries. He said the Public Health Ministry would officially announce the good news to Thais today.

The WHO's resolution came just three days after Thailand failed to clarify the use of compulsory licensing to the US government. The US commerce secretary took an aggressive stance and acted like a representative of US drug firms in demanding the cancellation of compulsory licences when Thai Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla met him on Monday in Washington.

Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, a campaigner from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Belgium in Thailand, said the resolution was a great success for developing countries in their battle to get access to medicines. "The fundamental problems of high drug prices caused by the reliance on patents for research and development on drugs should be explored as a next step," she said. Kannikar claimed that the assembly also adopted a resolution to explore R&D incentive mechanisms and to address the link between R&D costs and the price of medicines, vaccines and diagnostic kits.

Besides agreements on public health, innovation and intellectual property rights, the WHO's member states also reached resolutions on pandemic influenza preparedness and access to vaccines and other benefits that would be shared among the members.

Chan, head of the WHO, said the sharing would flow from improved international cooperation and preparation.

The resolution requires the WHO to establish an international stockpile of vaccines for H5N1 bird-flu and other influenza viruses of pandemic potential and to formulate mechanisms and guidelines aimed at ensuring fair and equitable distribution of vaccines at affordable prices.

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation

[ikarus]

Wowpow,
I always appreciate your posts regarding new hotels in Pattaya and add them to my favorite links. But this thread proved for me once and for all that it is as far as it goes. You cannot substitute discussion by cutting and pasting. The analysis is definitely not your strong side.
Better stay with information about new hotels. Showing cheap anti-americanism may bring you popularity among the mob but would not add any respect. If you are concerned about Aids problem in Thailand made a charitable donation to Heart2000 as many of us do. Dropping Crocodile tears about greedy Americans and poor Thais will not help a single victimof Aids.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1609/8571041/15911717/255025024.jpg
Icarus don't fly too close to the sun!

Thank you for your kind comments regarding my, very few, Pattaya hotel reviews.

I am sorry that you are not appreciating the reports on the progress in the World as the thorny problem of getting affordable drugs to those who needs them is being tackled. I find it fascinating and important. I am delighted that the US signed the TRIPS agreement at the WTO but it does not seem to have followed through with talks with the Pharmaceutical industry.

If I may reiterate the bleedin obvious - If you don't like my contributions then don't read them. Feel free to put me on your ignore list.

[Aunty]

Wowpow,
I always appreciate your posts regarding new hotels in Pattaya and add them to my favorite links. But this thread proved for me once and for all that it is as far as it goes. You cannot substitute discussion by cutting and pasting. The analysis is definitely not your strong side.
Better stay with information about new hotels. Showing cheap anti-americanism may bring you popularity among the mob but would not add any respect. If you are concerned about Aids problem in Thailand made a charitable donation to Heart2000 as many of us do. Dropping Crocodile tears about greedy Americans and poor Thais will not help a single victimof Aids.

HEAR HEAR!

[Aunty]

The resolution requires the WHO to establish an international stockpile of vaccines for H5N1 bird-flu and other influenza viruses of pandemic potential and to formulate mechanisms and guidelines aimed at ensuring fair and equitable distribution of vaccines at affordable prices.

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation

Sounds like commie industrial policy to me. Next thing the Thai will be wanting us all to endorse a 'sufficiency economy' for the whole world.

Nationalised industries didn't work for the dumb-asses of Eastern Europe, France, USSR, China, UK, France et al., and they're not going to work for the pharmaceutical industry either. And if people don't want to believe that, they're more than welcome to keep their heads firmly shoved up their arseholes. But it ain't gonna work.

Wowpow,
I always appreciate your posts regarding new hotels in Pattaya and add them to my favorite links. But this thread proved for me once and for all that it is as far as it goes. You cannot substitute discussion by cutting and pasting. The analysis is definitely not your strong side.
Better stay with information about new hotels. Showing cheap anti-americanism may bring you popularity among the mob but would not add any respect. If you are concerned about Aids problem in Thailand made a charitable donation to Heart2000 as many of us do. Dropping Crocodile tears about greedy Americans and poor Thais will not help a single victimof Aids.

HEAR HEAR!

HEAR HEAR HEAR HEAR!

Wowpow's stance on this topic makes me sick.

[ikarus]

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1609/8571041/15911717/255025024.jpg
Icarus don't fly too close to the sun!

Thank you for your kind comments regarding my, very few, Pattaya hotel reviews.

I am sorry that you are not appreciating the reports on the progress in the World as the thorny problem of getting affordable drugs to those who needs them is being tackled. I find it fascinating and important. I am delighted that the US signed the TRIPS agreement at the WTO but it does not seem to have followed through with talks with the Pharmaceutical industry.

If I may reiterate the bleedin obvious - If you don't like my contributions then don't read them. Feel free to put me on your ignore list.
Wowpow,
What you fail to understand (with your apparently quite limited mental capacity for analysis) is
that the quite unprecedented Anti-american campaign in Thai press regarding this issue is used to by certain forces within Thailand to stimulate general xenofobic and nationalistic feelings among the broad Thai population on the eve of important political developments. I had recently a meeting with a Thai analyst from South Thailand (who happen to be a staunch supporter of junta) and was shocked to realize how successful the campaign is. The backlash will be, however, against all foreigners not just Americans and expats are the most vulnerable... Prepare yourself for a ride...