Both Australia and Thailand have keenly pursued bilateral preferential trading agreements in recent years. These have covered services, though to varying degrees. Services, domestically important and in some areas sensitive to both economies, need to be liberalized as an important means of improving overall productivity and economic performance.
Given its development status, Thailand has been somewhat reserved in opening key sectors, such as distribution and financial services, in part due to the adverse effects of the Asian financial crisis. Consequently, liberalization has occurred largely on an ad hoc basis, either as default or as a “last resort” strategy when the situation was considered to have deteriorated so much that changes were seen as necessary. Australia is keen to develop key services exports, such as education, financial services, and telecommunications. On the other hand, like various developed countries, it is more cautious regarding mode 4 (the temporary movement of people), an area in which Thailand and some other developing countries consider they have a comparative advantage and export potential.
This chapter examines the bilateral and multilateral commitments of Australia and Thailand, and attempts to identify the underlying economic and political economy factors that help explain why different outcomes have been achieved (or not) in various negotiating contexts, including through unilateral liberalization. In doing so, it addresses the extent to which the GATS and PTAs have liberalized services in these countries.