New govt should get Thailand’s foreign policy back on track, forum told
Thailand’s new government should get the country’s foreign policy back on track by focusing on Asean cohesiveness, looking outward, and restoring the national capacity for balancing powers economically and politically, a recent public forum heard.
Speakers at the forum on “Thai Foreign Policy Outlook under the Incoming Government” also agreed that Thailand’s foreign-policy challenges include the ongoing geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China, as well as neutrality issues involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), particularly regarding Myanmar’s crisis.
The event was held at Chulalongkorn University on Monday by its Political Science Faculty’s Institute of Security and International Studies, in partnership with the European Union delegation in Thailand.
Former Thai ambassador Russ Jalichandra, one of the speakers at the forum, said that since the 2014 military coup, the Thai government has looked inwards due to its uneasiness with Western countries.
“They turned to countries that don’t ask about democracy or human rights. And it’s difficult for them to explain why Thailand no longer takes an independent standpoint [in the international community],” he said.
The former envoy called on the new government to restore Thailand’s foreign policy of maintaining balanced relations with superpowers.
“Certainly, China is important to Thailand in all respects, and I don’t think we can change that abruptly. But we should also communicate more with our Western friends,” Russ said.
Assoc Prof Sitthiphon Kruarattikan, from Thammasat University’s College of Interdisciplinary Studies, said that the Sino-Thai ties have become stronger over the past nine years under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s administration. He pointed to several visits by leaders of the two countries, massive bilateral trade, and millions of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand.
With a new prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, from the private sector, his government was likely to view China as an economic opportunity rather than a threat, which was not different from Prayut’s outgoing administration.
But Sitthiphon also warned that being “too pro-China” would make it difficult for Thailand to restore its leadership in Asean. “If we are too pro-China, what should we do if a China-related issue is discussed at an Asean forum? Our credibility will be at risk,” he said.
Assoc Prof Jittipat Poonkham, from Thammasat University’s Faculty of Political Science, told the forum that Thailand had turned towards China over the past nine years because the US had shown no clear policy regarding the region, particularly Thailand. He also said that he did not think the new government would make any radical changes regarding Thailand’s foreign policy towards China.
Bhanubhatra Jittiang, a political scientist from Chulalongkorn University, said that the new Thai government should not ignore the crisis in Myanmar.
He said the long-drawn-out crisis had worsened many problems due to the shared border between the two countries, including narcotics, money laundering, and human trafficking.
Sara Rezoagli, charge d'affaires of the European Union to Thailand, said the EU was looking forward to working with the new Thai government to reinforce further EU-Thai relations, in line with the EU-Thailand Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed in December 2022.
