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  • OPINION

    Recalling Thanat as a diplomatic doyen

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 20/07/2017

    » 'We [Thais] cannot forsake our responsibility and leave it to others to shape our destiny for us. So we are not hawkish, we are not anti-communist, we are just plain and simple people who want to live and to survive as free people and a free nation." This unmistakable articulation of Thai diplomacy made by Thanat Khoman in 1968 is still very much alive and kicking today.

  • OPINION

    Trump strengthens Asean-EU ties

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 25/07/2017

    » Rapid US withdrawals from its own free-trade initiative, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Paris Accord on climate change have all but shattered Washington's credibility both at the regional and global levels. Sensing the deep diplomatic black hole, and with prevailing anxiety high regarding the future direction of US leadership, the European Union (EU) has moved quickly to fill the gap, especially in Southeast Asia where it has been eager to boost ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

  • OPINION

    Thai role key in forging future of Asean

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 01/08/2017

    » There has been a lot of hullabaloo about Thailand's role in Asean as the group celebrates its 50th anniversary next week. However, really determining the country's status within Asean will take another eight years when Asean Vision 2025 wraps up and will be evaluated. Here are three determinants:

  • OPINION

    Tillerson's 5-hour trip to reset Thai-US ties

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 08/08/2017

    » When US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson returns to Bangkok Tuesday for a five-hour visit, he will find a bruised but confident ally ready to reset the 185-year-old Thai-US relations. This 300-minute interlude should prove extremely significant in determining the future of Thai-US relations. Lest we forget, his trip precedes a scheduled two-day visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov starting tomorrow.

  • OPINION

    Thailand and Vietnam: Stronger together

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 15/08/2017

    » In Asean, Vietnam is Thailand's only strategic partner. Three points in particular underpin the countries' unique ties.

  • OPINION

    Comfort level versus political correctness

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 22/08/2017

    » The past few months showed Thailand's pragmatism. Its diplomacy is based on a comfort level rather than on perceived political correctness. With its location and added strategic assets, major countries have now begun to court Thailand at their own pace. Although the country's diplomatic pathway was put under severe stress in the first 15 months after the May 2014 coup, Thailand's regional and international profile has incrementally been gaining traction and leading to new cooperation with those countries that have forged the highest level of comfort.

  • OPINION

    China's push to make new friends

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 29/08/2017

    » As the world's No.2 economic power with growing political clout, China is working hard to find regional strategic partners who it can "trust". The desired partners can be any countries in Asean that have minds of their own but understand the game of power politics. Most importantly, their foreign policy must not in any way, real or imagined, undermine China's position in the region.

  • OPINION

    Rakhine crisis: Lessons from Thailand

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 05/09/2017

    » When Myanmar's commander-in-chief Snr Gen Min Aung Hlaing was here last week for a series of top-level meetings with his Thai counterparts, the recent crisis in Rakhine state -- clashes between Myanmar authorities and Rohingya militants -- dominated the discussions both in Khon Kaen and Bangkok.

  • OPINION

    Myanmar broadcast media awakening caught on film

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 12/09/2017

    » "It is a great living experience," said film-maker Turid Rogne, 41, who has spent the past six years tracking the reporters of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) inside Myanmar. Her aim was to capture their media investigations and activities on film during the good and bad times after the Thein Sein government opened up the media landscape in Myanmar at the end of 2011.

  • OPINION

    Neighbourly diplomacy shifts from Laos

    News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 19/09/2017

    » The twists and turns of Thailand's diplomacy toward its neighbouring countries have recently undergone a metamorphosis. The military's seizure of power from the elected government in May 2014 allowed civilian decision-makers and security officers to reboot ties with the bordering countries. But not all such attempts have been successful.

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