Deal hardly a surprise

Only a responsible newspaper would have highlighted such a dreary but important arrangement affecting our international trade. However, the baht-yuan agreement is not that unique to draw special attention from the US or the rest of the world.

Due to its surplus from international trade and huge international reserves held mostly in US dollars, the value of which is declining, China has aggressively tried to reduce the importance of the dollar and diverted the funds to invest outside China. It has also proceeded to internationalise the renminbi (RMB) by having a currency-swap agreement with most of its trading partners since the late 2000s even before Thailand. 

By May 2014, the RMB was the seventh-most-traded currency in the world. 

It is already a given that China will overtake the United States as No 1 in world trade and the dollar will eventually have the RMB as a competitor in addition to the euro and the yen. 

No, the Thai/China swap agreement is no breakthrough and no surprise to the United States or the world. Thailand is in fact a latecomer.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok