Thailand and France Sign New 2026-2028 Action Plan, Setting Sights on Strategic Partnership

 

 

Signed days after the King and Queen's state visit to Paris, the plan commits Bangkok and France to deeper cooperation on energy, digital transformation, education and space, marking 170 years of diplomatic ties.

 

 

Thailand and France on Friday signed a new Joint Action Plan for 2026-2028, deepening a partnership that both governments say is now on course to become a full Strategic Partnership, in a ceremony that followed closely on the heels of a state visit to France by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand.

 

The plan was signed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow and by Jean-Claude Poimboeuf, Ambassador of the French Republic to Thailand, who signed on behalf of the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

 

Addressing guests after the signing, Ambassador Poimboeuf said the timing of the ceremony was significant, coming "right after" the King and Queen's state visit to France — an event he described as historic and one that had given fresh momentum to the relationship between the two countries.
 

 

 

 

 

A plan renewed at a symbolic moment

The new action plan succeeds a previous agreement that had reached the end of its term and extends cooperation across a broad range of fields, including trade, investment, science and technology, transport, education, research and culture, as well as the exchange of academic best practices and closer people-to-people links.
 

 

 

 

Its signing coincides with a year of historic resonance for the two countries. Thailand and France are marking the 170th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations in 2026, a milestone that follows last year's commemoration of the 340th anniversary of the first diplomatic mission sent to the Kingdom of Siam under King Louis XIV.

 

That sense of history featured prominently in both officials' remarks, alongside an acknowledgement that the relationship has been carried forward in recent years by a steady succession of high-level exchanges: French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Thailand in 2022, two visits by Thailand's former Prime Minister in 2024, the Thai Prime Minister's visit to France at the end of May this year, and, most recently, the state visit by the King and Queen.

 

 

 

 

 

New areas of cooperation

Beyond renewing established pillars of cooperation, the plan identifies six new priority sectors for 2026-2028:

 

Energy transition

Digital transformation

Research and innovation

Education

Aviation

Space

 

Both sides described these additions as complementary to Thailand and France's already substantial economic ties and people-to-people exchanges, rather than a departure from them.

 

Officials said the expanded scope reflects the ambition, set by the leaders of both countries, to move the relationship towards a formal Strategic Partnership encompassing political, defence, security, economic and academic cooperation.
 

 

 

 

 

Remarks from the signing ceremony

Deputy Prime Minister Sihasak told guests that the Thailand-France relationship was "more than history" and firmly orientated towards the future. He noted that while the two countries are celebrating 170 years of official diplomatic ties this year, their first contact stretches back some 340 years.

 

He described the past year as an "eventful" one for bilateral relations, pointing to the momentum built up through a series of high-level visits, and said the newly identified areas of cooperation — from energy transition to aviation and space — sat alongside the countries' longstanding economic and cultural ties.

 

He called the new plan a "strategic pathway" towards the two governments' ultimate goal of establishing a Strategic Partnership.

 

Ambassador Poimboeuf, signing in one of his final official acts before concluding his posting in Thailand, said he was honoured to sign the plan on behalf of the French minister for Europe and foreign affairs.

 

He placed particular emphasis on the recent Royal visit to France, calling it a historic moment that reaffirmed the long-standing ties between the two nations and opened what he termed "a new and significant chapter" in their shared history — a chapter into which, he noted, Friday's signing directly fed.

 

He credited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in particular its Department of European Affairs, for its role in finalising the new plan and said its very title — a joint action plan for "partnership" — reflected both governments' shared ambition to elevate ties to the level of a Strategic Partnership, covering political, defence, security, economic and academic fields, as well as people-to-people exchanges. The ceremony concluded with official photographs following the signing.

 

 

 

 

 

What comes next

Deputy Prime Minister Sihasak is scheduled to travel to Hawaii from 5 to 7 July to advance the Thailand-US alliance and strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific.

 

He is expected to meet Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, Commander of the US Pacific Command, for talks on defence and security cooperation and the President of the East-West Center to strengthen academic and people-to-people ties.

 

The visit will be the first by a Thai Foreign Minister to Hawaii in 15 years. More than 5,000 Thai nationals currently live in the state, which officials describe as strategically significant for Indo-Pacific security and home to several leading US academic institutions.