Charlie Thame, a researcher at Thammasat University’s faculty of political science, wrote a year long report entitled “SEZs and value extraction from the Mekong”. “International standards regarding land, labour rights and environmental protection officially apply to SEZs but they have not been effectively implemented,” he said. “It is hard to see many redeeming features of the SEZs and if I were from Myanmar, I would strongly suppose their development,” he said. “Globally, there is plenty of evidence to show the impacts of SEZs on the rights of workers and local communities. “It is really hard to raise our voices when it comes to implementation of the SEZs,” he said.

Source: The Nation Bangkok October 22, 2017 18:11 UTC