The Thais that bind: while there is much talk of the Australia-US FTA at the moment, Tim Harcourt casts his eyes eastwards to take a look at a FTA somewhat closer to home which is already bringing great rewards.(FRONTLINE)

"Australia is a good friend of Thailand and a good friend of Asia." That was the key message from Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, the deputy prime minister of Thailand back in 1993 at the APEC summit in Seattle. Now, 11 years on, Australia is an even better friend of Thailand thanks to the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) which was provisionally inked by Thai prime minister Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra and Australian PM John Howard in Bangkok at the 2003 APEC summit.

The agreement--now fully in force--is Australia's second FTA with an ASEAN economy following the successful completion of negotiations of the Singapore Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and was, …