The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Thailand

Following the political crisis in 2006, Thailand formally returned to democracy about 20 months after the military coup, with parliamentary elections in December 2007. The political problems cited to justify the coup nevertheless remain and sustainable democratisation is still a distant goal. Overshadowed by power struggles between dominant elites, two of the essential prerequisites for sustainable democracy - the diversity of opinion and values and political participation for major sections of the population - have not been achieved. The violence in the three Malay-Moslem provinces of the south has worsened despite initial hopes of de-escalation. There are now increasing signs that the political conflict is turning into a religious one and that islamicists are being used to lend it an international dimension. The conflict has become so heated and ineffably complex that it remains a major responsibility of the state and civil society to establish and foster dialogue-oriented, non-violent approaches to conflict management.

The projects run by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung take their cue from these societal challenges. One objective is to help integrate key elements of participatory, pluralistic democracy into the political reform process. In concrete terms, this means for example creating forums for dialogue about key issues of democracy, the reform of the media and strategies for political education. Another aspect of this project activity is promoting dialogue on peace-building measures to deal with the conflict in the south. Central topics for industrial relations include conceptual development for the welfare state in Thailand, the concerns of people working in the informal economy and empowering progressive trade unions to defend their members' interests effectively.