The Chinese have been coming to Thailand to trade for millennium – without ever colonising our country. The French and British, meanwhile, arrived just a few centuries ago and promptly colonised India, Indochina, Burma and Malaysia and also robbed an abysmal amount of Thailand’s land. It was Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II who saved Thailand from being colonised by Great Britain and France. I don’t mean, however, that we should follow China as an underling. We should instead treat it as a constructive partner and learn from China how to trade profitably with the West.
Prasan Stianrapapongs
Pattaya