Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin Rebalances Its Relationship With China

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin Rebalances Its Relationship With China

What Happened: After the 2014 coup, Thailand’s military regime found itself on the outs with its nominal ally, the United States, and sought out China as an alternative. The result: major growth in economic ties, as China became the largest source of tourists to Thailand, as well as the country’s biggest trading partner. But the COVID-19 pandemic sent those economic exchanges into a tailspin – tanking Thailand’s economy in the process. Now a new government, under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, is looking to pick up the pieces by casting its net farther afield.

Our Focus: “The military government moved closer to China by necessity because it’s the only major player out there that would accommodate, that would pursue relations with Thailand,” Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst and professor at Chulalongkorn University, told The Diplomat. Now Srettha is branching out – not by ignoring ties with China (which remain “very good, very warm, and very close,” said Thitinan) but by seeking closer partnerships with (and investment from) a variety of other countries, including the U.S., India, and the UAE.

What Comes Next: Benjamin Zawacki, author of the book “Thailand: Shifting Ground Between the U.S. and Rising China,” said that Srettha, a former real estate mogul, was looking to find “as many opportunities as he can” to revive the country’s economy – and that China would remain central to his goal. “Thailand will certainly go where the going is good and for years that has been China and that continues to be [true], Zawacki said. “But,” he added, “I think the past two years have given Thailand a bit of pause in terms of how much it wants to hitch its wagon to one particular economy.” That’s why Srettha is continuing outreach to China but also courting old and new partners – which has the effect of reducing Beijing’s relative influence in the country.