Thai civil society groups protest against IMF and World Bank annual meetings and establish People’s Opposition Network

(Central News Agency reporter Li Zongxian, Bangkok, 3rd) The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank will be held in Bangkok on the 12th. Thai civil society groups held a press conference yesterday and announced the establishment of the "People's Opposition to the IMF and World Bank Network". They criticized the economic development model led by the IMF and the World Bank for passing costs on to the people, and called on the people to regain the power to determine the direction of the country's development.

Representatives from women, urban poor, labor and social movement groups expressed their dissatisfaction with the IMF and World Bank annual meetings held in Bangkok at a press conference on the 2nd with the theme "Who pays the bill? People are forced to bear the hidden costs of a development vision they did not choose."

The annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank will be held in Thailand from October 12 to 18. This is the first time that Thailand has hosted this annual event in the international financial community after 35 years since 1991.

Thai civil society also announced the establishment of the "People's Opposition to the IMF and World Bank Network" at a press conference. Representative Pranom Somwong said that in the past, powerful powers used force to control the country, but now they exert influence through economic policies.

She said: "If the world is compared to a large market, powerful powers such as the United States or Europe are the market owners, the World Bank and the IMF are management and lending institutions, and Thailand is just a vendor without bargaining power."

She also criticized the Thai government for becoming a "market guard" under this model, failing to fully take care of people's lives, and instead suppressing people when they fight for their rights.

Another representative, Saengsiri Treemarkha, emphasized his opposition to the development structure dominated by neoliberal capitalism. She said that the government tried to reduce its own social welfare burden, but maintained its original power and allowed large enterprises to gain greater influence, causing the people to face problems such as monopoly and land annexation.

The network organization stated that it will launch a large-scale citizens' movement to express their demands in Bangkok during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.