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the society, they were not concerned about social, political, cultural, and environmental
the impact of globalization and AEC, and they changes. These changes bring about various
offered no information about suitable prepa- events which seem to be happening within
rations. a short period of time.
- Capital and free trade focuses on
Perception of NGO staff members about
competitive advantages and the ability to
AEC and globalization
freely trade in goods for which they may lack
Informants within this group had learned experience in manufacturing, thus increasing

and understood well the fundamental defini- efficiency and profitability for each country.
tions concerning AEC and globalization. - Dynamic movements and develop-
They explained that AEC refers mainly to an ment is occurring everywhere all the time.
association of 10 neighboring countries, in- - People can become çcolonizedé as
cluding Thailand, the purpose of which is to a result of their beliefs and economic, educa-
provide mutual economic benefits for the tional, and cultural motivation, which can
whole of ASEAN, as well as in terms of coun- serve as tools for numerous countries to domi-
terbalancing their other trading partners. AEC nate others. They believe that the goal of such
will create and encourage çfree tradeé among çcolonizationé is to drain the resources of the
the member countries, and the import and colonized countries and take advantage of
export of goods will be tax-free, with the ex- them.
ception of a few goods. Regarding globaliza-
Awareness of NGO staff members about
tion, they referred to this phenomenon as a
the impact of AEC and globalization
global connection without any barrier in re-
laying information from one party to another. Positive impacts:
Despite the settlement of people and loca- - High technology makes connec-
tion of communities worldwide, people are tions easier. People have developed efficient
able to recognize and become greatly affected communication systems to communicate
by events that may occur rapidly. It is the easily and share information.
result as well of efficient communication and - Able to obtain more benefits from
transportation of technology within the infor- sharing information.
mation era. As a result of globalization, there Negative impacts:
are overlapping patterns. Globalization covers - The major ecological impact is the
the countries of the world, whereas AEC absence of natural resources owing to changes

covers only a group of countries. Moreover, in the manufacturing system from rice and
they stated that the impacts of globalization garden crops to rubber. Owners should pre-
and AEC are as follows: pare areas suitable for the planting of rubber
- Rapid changes include economic, trees by cutting down other trees and dig-