Thai Youth Preparation Forum for APF 2009

How do we engage with ASEAN? Is it only an economic space for government trade representatives? Can we propose alternatives to large-scale development and “free” trade? Or is youth participation just another marketing tool? How can we hold ASEAN accountable? These are important questions for many young Thai activists and organizers, but certainly difficult to answer. The Thai Youth Preparation Forum for APF 2009 from Sept. 5-6 was an opportunity to approach these questions and brainstorm concrete ways of participating in ASEAN.

On the morning of the 5th we shared our reasons for joining the forum and our expectations for the weekend’s outputs. Jeerawan Yohtsamut (Ying), a senior at Thammasat Rangsit University and a volunteer with Action Aid, came to the Forum to learn more about ASEAN, specifically about economic issues and their impacts on the environment and youth. The lowering of import taxes is becoming a pretty important issue, though other issues like the environment and youth aren’t discussed much at all. She added, “Our thoughts need a space, and coming together with youth that work in rural communities, Bangkok youth can learn more about other areas and activities. We can mix together those who know about ASEAN – the ‘academic’ types – with rural activists.” Ying also sees the weekend as an alternative educational opportunity – given how everything in the typical classroom is structured. She once asked a friend what economics meant and they couldn’t even answer her question.

With these concerns in mind, we organized a morning seminar on ASEAN. P’ Kratae of the Thai Volunteer Service presented a basic and accessible history of ASEAN, which led into a panel presentation featuring representatives from Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups. Representing civil society organizations was Yuyun Wahyuningrum of Forum-Asia. I won’t go into too much detail about the panel, but it was an engaging intersection of different perspectives on ASEAN, human rights and economic integration.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs views the ASEAN Charter as a “bible” to maintain political will of ASEAN members and hold up commitments for human rights and people’s participation. Yet how “strictly interpreted” this bible will be is another issue, and is where civil society organizations seek to have a role. As Yuyun pointed out at the end of her presentation, youth can be an important part of “knocking on the door” until we get a response from ASEAN, and there is genuine accountability and human rights are upheld. The ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will meet in January 2010 – this will be an important opportunity for further engagement. Youth will need to prepare a clear and important proposal that represents all 10 ASEAN countries.

The representative from the Office of Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups also presented a list of programs organized by their Office:
- SSEAYP: Ship for Southeast ASEAN Youth Programme
- Mekong Youth Leaders Training Programme
- Youth Leaders Training Programme
- Youth International Exchange Programme
- ASEAN +3 Youth Caucus: Youth Caring and Sharing Society
- ASEAN Youth Fund
We invite all readers to look for information or resources about these programs, as our movement could benefit greatly from them.

Our forum brought together a range of participants, including youth activists from northern Thailand working with Burmese refugees, young lawyers working in Thailand’s three southern-most provinces, labor organizers in Bangkok factories, young women working in Ubon’s urban communities, and a range of youth supporting alternative education activities that focus on local wisdom and cultures. We also connected with a representative from the government’s “Youth Congress” – Nuanpan Tamanowanit (Pang), a student at Chulalongkorn who is developing some new ideas about cross-cultural education. As part of the Youth Congress, students like Pang have directly connected with the government and presented their policy ideas and proposals.

Pang shared with us her idea that all ASEAN languages should be part of Thailand’s school curriculums and that the histories of “hinterlands” should be taught to young students. She argued that by learning more about these histories, we could improve relationships between neighboring countries, understand their culture and their potential for growth. Pang also presented the example of her experience at two Youth Caucus events, in Bangkok and Singapore. The Bangkok event was 8 days of long meetings with very little time to see the country, and in turn, there was little in terms of efficiency or successful impacts. When she traveled to Singapore, it was 5 days of learning about the country and 3 days of meetings, which we productive and successful (nevertheless, when she presented this idea to the Youth Caucus last year, several ASEAN countries disregarded it).

An engaging discussion came out of her suggestions, with Vichian Talaa (Yun) and Witawadee Tanyangnoi (Tuck) from Friends of Burma commenting that the type of historical education Pang proposed won’t work, and for several reasons. When we look to Thailand’s history of oppression and control over territory, the center will always want to keep history the way it wants it to be. Diversity is a challenge – when we learn about history, we need people focusing on the local to be a part of this process – not just national-level processes and national culture. Proposals on education need to be represented by students outside of Chulalongkorn from the same faculty. This exchange got everyone pretty turned on, and showed early on the differences in opinion between conventional students and student-activists. Yet Pang still expressed her sympathies with civil society in a later interview, “when a Burmese friend from the Youth Caucus proposed ‘freedom of expression’ to be included in the Socio-Cultural Blueprint, it was X’d by the government ministries. Burmese youth can’t even converse about controversial issues in complete sentences, they need to answer either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ when we ask them questions.”

Education has clearly become a very important issue to Thai youth involved in this preparatio process. Picheet Benjamaat (Chet) also continued to discuss education, first by pointing out how many different ethnicities were present in the room. Education in the conventional system forgets locally based approaches to learning. We may not need a complete picture of history, but we need an opportunity to learn about the local.

Nattawat Tewalurtam (Top) a regional coordinator for Young Progressives Southeast Asia (YPSEA – an organization associated with SEACA) joined the discussion by presenting his network’s efforts for youth participation in ASEAN. YPSEA is working on an initiative to push ASEAN leaders for change in education, health and human rights. YPSEA also understands the ASEAN Charter to be an agreement for responsibility and a tool for generating power in decision-making. They have developed a “Youth Charter” – found here – which represents the YPSEA development and implementation process. Top also pointed out that YPSEA wants to “stand together and make this Charter a representative voice for our allies.” The Youth Charter needs to be translated into all ASEAN languages, but the English version has been submitted to the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs. The challenge for YPSEA – given that many youth are still unsure of themselves and unprepared for expressing their ideas and arguments – is to make their efforts accessible to the masses.

After Bennett Haynes made a short presentation on current ASEAN media resources for youth, P’ Somkid Mahitaya and P’ Kratae Petrat from Thai Volunteer Service Foundation presented some clever charts that outlined the state and civil society process regarding to ASEAN as well as the organizations involved in the Youth Forum and their common ground and potential. When we look to civil society, we see diverse ethnicities and identities, movements for an alternative society and strong people’s organizations. The ASEAN Civil Society Conferences and ASEAN People’s Forum have broadly pushed for Human Rights and people’s participation. Focusing on an environment “pillar” and youth involvement have also become an important part of APF’s current work. The state, on the other hand, has claimed the phrase “empowering young people through education” and via several “Youth Summits” and the SOMY/AMMY mechanisms have generated some mechanisms for youth participation. Yet the state’s processes are still vague to people’s movements and the civil society organizations seeking out the state for engagement. Given the inaccessibility of the ASEAN format, P’ Kratae proposed that if we want to propose fixes or alternatives, how do we want them to look?

The rest of the afternoon session kicked off with some strong words. Witaya Jandasak (Moh) of the Assembly of the Poor pointed out, “How will Thailand fix economic problems with ASEAN when there are still so many problems within Thailand?” The AOP has long been an important voice in reminding Thai society of its on-going soci-economic problems. We then critically approached the ASEAN Charter, the Socio-Cultural Blueprint and the ASEAN Inter-Goverrnmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). Each document was examined critically and points referring to youth or issues of interest to youth were drawn out. By finding clear connections to ASEAN policy and proposals, we can present our concerns and own concepts for policies or make new proposals.

In the discussion on Human Rights, Top from YPSEA pointed out that ASEAN signed on to the UN Declaration on Human Rights, but is not implementing it. Chet continued, “we can’t deny ASEAN’s movement and it’s impacts and problems from exclusive economic focus are long term. Human Rights is a big issue and will need a lot of time to change. With socio-cultural issues, we can start small, with the things we know and can work on concretely.” Feeding off Chet’s sentiment, Ohn from Seubsan in Surat Tani continued, “We don’t interfere with ASEAN, but ASEAN interferes with us. When we aren’t organized, we won’t know the impact of policies.” Engagement is very much about balancing the interests and needs of the grassroots with concerns about upper-level policy decision-making.

“The AICHR is not what it needs to be, but if we have the belief to change society for the better, we need to conclude how was want to work with ASEAN. Long term or not?” P’ Kratae pointed out, and let students take over. Tuck suggested that youth can be a mechanism to tell ASEAN’s structures that people’s participation needs to be genuine. Adesorn Guntamunglee (Tle) also echoed his famous words, “corporations are afraid of NGOs.” When people’s organizations are strong, they hold corporations and governments accountable.

“The ASEAN slogan has never been true – the people don’t know about ASEAN,” P’ Somkid continued after the student discussion. Youth have concrete connections to regional-level policies and Thailand has an opportunity to express itself. Thai society is more open than other parts of Southeast Asia and can help create a political space for the people. How do we make it a “win-win?” At the community level, participation is deep and clear, working for sustainable alternatives. At the public level, we organize campaigns and create connections between issues. At the policy level, participation takes the form of advocacy to represent marginalized peoples. We need to connect these levels and work for concrete change.

The ASEAN presentation and student-led exchange throughout Saturday afternoon helped us to understand possibilities for engagement. For Sunday it was time to pursue specific and concrete issues related to youth and brainstorm for media campaigns. Last year produced a comprehensive Youth Statement. This Youth Forum was a step in that direction, generating a new draft of specific proposals and policy ideas. We’ll use this opportunity to share information and ideas about ASEAN in the communities we live and work. For most participants, a lot of questions about people’s participation are still unanswered. But continuing to be a part of this learning process and youth movement will help make our voices heard.

Written by Bennett Haynes, ASEAN Youth Movement Media Team