Rights ruling 'only helps foreign pharmaceutical corps'

Nimit Thian-udom, director of the AidsAccess Foundation, said yesterday that the peaceful movement would involve many members of the advocacy groups and the general public, as well as people living with HIV/Aids, who support its policy.

The groups would soon meet with Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot to air their opinions on the matter.

Nimit said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had admitted to him in their discussion that he did not know that the July 9 government decision contained "concealed" conditions that would lead to amendments of the intellectual property rights and trademark laws.

He said Abhisit was unaware that the legal changes would put Thailand at a disadvantage in future dealings with foreign firms.

He accused certain ministry officials of lying to the public, through the authorisation of "clueless politicians", by claiming that the government decision was important in dropping Thailand from the US Trade Representative's Priority Watch List (PWL).

He cited many research studies as claiming that inclusion on the PWL would not hurt Thailand economically.

Assoc Professor Jiraphorn Limpananond, a Chulalongkorn University lecturer, said the government decision overlooked the importance of people's access to effective but cheaper drugs and their knowledge bases.

The decision focused mainly on giving more power to law enforcement officials to arrest copyright violators and subject them to civil punishment.

Kingkorn Narinthakul na Ayutthaya, deputy chairwoman of the BioThai Foundation, said the government decision failed completely to address the importance of local herbal remedies and the protection of herbal breeds against registration by other countries.

"This decision fails to protect the assets Thailand has, but protects what is owned by other countries," she added.