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President of Thailand-Singapore Parliamentarians Friendship Group led the delegation to pay a courtesy call and have bilateral meetings with high-level persons of Singapore as follows: 1) A courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Charles Chong, Vice President of Singapore Parliament 2) A bilateral meeting with Ms. Foo Mee Har, Vice Chairperson of Singapore-South East Asia Parliamentarians Friendship Group 3) A bilateral meeting with M.E. Ms. Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In each session, both sides exchanged views on the following matters;
1) Overview of Thailand-Singapore Relations
Thailand and Singapore established diplomatic relations in 1965. The two countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of Thailand-Singapore relations in 2005. Singapore sent an orchestral band and arranged a performance in Bangkok and created the stamp to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Thailand also held a celebration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Throughout the time, the relationship between the two countries has been close and cordial at all levels and covers all dimensions namely, political, economic and social matters. Various factors crucial in supporting continuation and cooperation are, for example, regular exchanges of visits. At royal visit level, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn made several visits to Singapore. Recently, Her Royal Highness made an official visit to Singapore to preside over Global Young Scientists Summit 2016. At the government level, General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Prime Minister, made an official visit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence and establishment of Thailand-Singapore diplomatic relations in 2015. For Singapore, H.E. Mrs. Halimah Yacob, Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament, led the delegation for an official visit to Thailand as guests of the Thai Parliament in 2013 to promote legislative relations between the two countries.
During the visit, President of Thailand-Singapore Parliamentarians Friendship Group mentioned about the progress of Thailand’s political situation according to the Road Map. Thailand was in the process of drafting the constitution which would be followed by a referendum. If the people voted to approve the draft, the organic bills would be drafted and the election would then be held to establish the government. It was expected that the election would be held and the new government would be established around the end of 2017. The Singaporean representative admired Thailand’s political Road Map for having a good direction and believed that Thailand would be successful in the state administration. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore also affirmed in respecting and adhering in non-interference principle for Thailand’s political situation, as well as not imposing punishment or restraining cooperation between the two countries.
On economic cooperation, Singapore is the second trade partner of Thailand among ASEAN countries and the sixth trade partner in the world. Singaporean government has the policy to support and promote Singaporean businesspersons to make more foreign investment. According to previous surveys, Thailand is a leading country attracting Singaporean investors especially in the main areas such as hotels and industrial factories. Both countries are determined to enhance more comprehensive cooperation including bilateral and multilateral levels as ASEAN member countries.
2) Military Relations
Thailand and Singapore have a close military relations in three forces. For the army cooperation, both countries have a joint training called “Kacha Singa” which does not focus on maneuver but aims to provide disaster assistance and management. For the navy cooperation, both sides hold ASEAN Navy Chiefs’ Meeting every year. At bilateral level, the training “Exercise Singsiam” is also held annually. Moreover, the Thai navy’s personnel participated in the operation on navigation security in Singapore and Melaka. For the air forces cooperation, Thailand and Singapore had establish bilateral cooperation though joint training called “Air Thaising” since 1983 which has then become multilateral cooperation called “Cope Tiger” joined by the US Air Force. The two countries believe that multilateral training is an opportunity to learn military advancement and new strategies for air battle.
3) Tourism
After the bomb incident at Ratchaprasong Intersection, the number of tourists had declined. Therefore the President of Thailand-Singapore Parliamentarians Friendship Group invited Singaporean tourists to travel in Thailand as the situation had already returned to normal. In addition, the government sectors provided security measures to increase confidence to tourists. In this matter, Singapore expressed the confidence that the number of Singaporean tourists would be increased as Thailand has various historical and beautiful natural tourist sites. According to the survey, the most popular provinces for Singaporean tourists are Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket.
4) Mass Communication
The President of Thailand-Singapore Parliamentarians Friendship Group expressed his admiration on the performance of Singapore’s mass communication including television, radio, and newspapers for having good management and strict law enforcement in controlling, overseeing and monitoring the works of mass communication in the country. In this regards, Singapore mentioned that freedom of the press is the most important. Like freedom of speech, the press has the rights to present any matters or any views as long as the information they have is fact. However, the press and the people of Singapore fully realize the punishment according to the strict laws. Therefore, a person publicizing any false news or information or sensitive issues which may provoke social conflict affecting national security will be sued according to the laws regardless that the action is committed in the country or outside the country. Moreover, Singapore place the importance on monitoring online mass communication regarding children and youth by improving laws and technology to be inclusive and updated to the current situation of the society.
5) Aging Society
Since 1965, Singapore has further developed public health resulting in longer lifespan of the population and the increased income reduces fatality rate. Singapore, therefore, is facing the rapid increase of population. As a result, the government of Singapore had to issue the birth rate control policy. However, the government has changed the policy to increase birth rate by promoting tax deduction to parents who have children and providing assistance on expenses by increasing welfare or education fund. With changing social value, for example, parents nowadays prefer having only one child in order to give the best care, young married couples move from extended family, new generations who are successful in their work life and confident that they can take care of themselves and enjoy their single life do not want marriage or have children, results in low marriage and birth rate. Moreover, students who study abroad choose to live abroad permanently. All of the above factors are main reasons resulting in the elderly population living alone. Therefore, the government of Singapore established Social Security Savings which has been developed from Central Provident Fund (CPF) since 1955 in order to require savings from the people after retirement. Thailand is also facing aging society. The National Legislative Assembly considered bills concerning welfare for the elderly. Both Thailand and Singapore realize that aging society is an important issue which cannot be solved within a short time. It needs a preparation and solutions for the future.
6) Digital Economy
Singapore is a country having good digital economy foundation supporting other economic sectors namely industry, agriculture, services, finance and banking to advance and grow rapidly. Thailand also places the importance on digital economy. In the past, General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Prime Minister, made a policy statement to the National Legislative Assembly on supporting and building foundation for digital economy to be implemented in 5 dimensions namely:
(1) Development of hard Infrastructure: referring to the development of communication networks, antennas, frequencies and information center to cover all areas;
(2) Development of soft infrastructure: referring to laws, regulations, and measures in order to build the people’s confidence to make safe transactions via digital technology;
(3) Development of service infrastructure: referring to building of platforms for making transactions and building business of the country;
(4) Digital economy promotion: referring to establishment of agencies responsible for taking care and giving assistance to startups from the beginning to scaling up the market;
(5) Building digital society: referring to provision of equal and inclusive support on utilization and access to network and information on the internet;
On such matters, the Committee on Mass Communication, Science, Technology and Information of the National Legislative Assembly considered guidelines on the development of digital economy in order to connect and integrate works on the 5 dimensions. The Committee also agreed to have a blue print for the country for the implementation of the aforementioned dimensions, and considered laws supporting appropriate technology based on academic principles. Besides, the Committee appointed a commission and working groups in order to study and make a close follow up on the development of digital economy to work in accordance with the government’s policy on supporting digital economy which results in sustainable economic growth of the country. The appointed commission and working groups were the Commission on Preparation of Digital for Economy and Society, the Working Group on National Broad Band, the Working Group on Thailand’s Information Center, the Working Group on Following Up Digital Economy and Digital Society Legislations, the Working Group on Lifetime Learning and the Working Group on Supporting Trade on Digital Platforms.
The government of Singapore places the importance on digital economy. It has systematically implemented on such matters and gained cooperation from private sectors namely, Electronic Payment (E-Payment) and Electronic Government (E-Government). For example, private sectors make a transparent income and expenses report along with the efficient E-Government system which helps the government in collecting tax and making a budget plan for administration and development of the country. Moreover, each Ministry of Singapore has a department responsible in providing convenient and equal access to digital economy for the people. Singapore believed that digital economy will support the development of macro economy and promote small and medium enterprises in Singapore.
Views and Suggestions from the Study Visit
1) Courtesy call and bilateral meetings with high level persons of Singapore are good opportunities to build a good image and understanding of Thailand’s current development as well as to build political, economic and tourism confidence to Singapore and promote cooperation as members of ASEAN in building stable and sustainable ASEAN.
2) Exchange of views on various matters has brought knowledge and experiences to apply on digital economy, preparation of aging society, military cooperation, mass communication and tourism.
3) Exchange of visits between high level leaders of the two countries will promote closer and stable relationship of the two countries.
Keywords Singapore, Digital Economy, Aging Society, Tourism, Military, Mass Communication
Pillars Political-Security, Economic, Socio-Cultural
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