Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing reciprocal trade between the United States and Thailand. The issue of trade has come to the forefront of I guess the agenda if you will, of this Administration, this new Trump administration or second Trump term, and let's just jump in in here.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Digital reciprocity on the horizon. A lot going on in this article. I have got to be honest with you, some of this I'm optimistic about and others of this, especially anything involving digital, always these days is kind of giving me the creeps. That said, quoting directly: "The US-Thailand framework for an agreement on reciprocal trade is expected to establish a robust foundation for digital reciprocity, empowering American investments in Thailand -- including strategic data centre deployments." - whatever that means - quoting further: "It could facilitate Thai enterprises' expansion into the US market's high growth areas such as digital health." Okay, maybe.

That said, I've been watching this pretty carefully. It looks like a lot of what's going on here is trying to pry open Thailand's market more than anything, and on some levels, I can understand that. There may be maybe an overabundance of protectionism associated with certain sectors but there's also national sovereignty, national security concerns to keep in mind as well.

For those who are unaware, the United States and Thailand have a long-standing Treaty relationship going back some 200 years with 191 years of an actual Treaty in place; the latest iteration was ratified in 1966, in the form of the US-Thai Treaty of Amity. That relationship allows many folks who are Americans, and American businesses to come over here to Thailand and do business with national treatment i.e. in the same manner as can Thai nationals which leads to a situation where Americans can set up here in Thailand and own their companies, 100% own their companies outright, and basically be able to avail themselves of those privileges and immunities frankly, stemming from the United States' Treaty relationship with Thailand. 

So while I'm happy to see further negotiations, further agreements made regarding the trade relationship between Thailand and the United States, it's important to point out that there was already a very positive framework already in place between the United States and Thailand and it has just fostered more further cooperation when it comes to trade. That being said, we will certainly be keeping people updated on this channel as the situation evolves.