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Published on July 25, 2007

The article quoted Schwab as saying Washington was no longer interested in pursuing free-trade talks with the Kingdom.

Asked whether Thailand had been dumped, Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet was not in a good mood.

"If they decide not to talk to Thailand, then there's nothing we can do about it," he said. "Do I have to beg them? Do I have to get down on my knees to ask the US to continue the FTA [free-trade agreement] talks with Thailand?"

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla was obviously disappointed.

"If they don't want to do an FTA with us, that's fine," he said.

But later in the day, the US Embassy in Bangkok issued an urgent press release saying Schwab's statement had been misquoted.

She was quoted by the Singaporean newspaper as saying, "We have given up having a free-trade agreement with Thailand." However, the embassy said, "The Straits Times story inadvertently dropped the word 'not' in the above quote."

Here's the full Q &A that the embassy said was transcribed from the audio tape of the interview:

Q: And are the FTAs with Malaysia and Thailand dead in the water?

Schwab: "I don't think they are dead in the water. But on the FTA with Malaysia, actually we are pretty far along with that, and the negotiations are continuing, and we would like to finalise that FTA. We would need trade-promotion authority to implement, but I am optimistic that we can get that done. So that continues.

"In the case of Thailand, that FTA stalled out shortly before the coup, and then obviously with the coup it became impossible to proceed.

"We have not given up having a free-trade agreement with Thailand. And Thailand continues, for example, in the context of Doha to be very pro-trade - be a real actor that is pro-trade on the international scene, and that is good."

 The embassy said, "The Straits Times story inadvertently dropped the word 'not' in the above quote, completely reversing the meaning of Schwab's words. The newspaper has agreed to correct the article on-line."

In short, Thailand has not been dumped yet, even though the prospect for concluding an FTA anytime soon is not likely.

And this lengthy statement from the embassy was only to clarify what Schwab did not say.

jeerawat@nationgroup.com