Showing 1 - 10 of 26
Thai-Korea ties: From K-pop to policy
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 06/08/2024
» Thai singer Lalisa "Lisa" Manobal, a member of the phenomenal yet now defunct Blackpink, epitomises the modern Thai-South Korean relationship thanks to her popularity and global appeal.
Thais hedge bets on international stage
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 04/06/2024
» Thailand's decision last week to apply for full Brics membership came as a shock to Western allies and friends, not least because it followed a positive assessment by the Special Session of the OECD Council (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) after Thailand filed a letter of intent to join the OECD In February.
Thai-Cambodian ties enter a new era
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 30/01/2024
» Exactly 37 days before Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet was due to fly to Bangkok on Feb 7 for a one-day official visit, Cambodia extended Thai border pass access to Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is located. This was an act of goodwill as the proposal has been on the table for discussions since Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's visit to Phnom Penh in September -- his first official foreign destination after being elected Thai leader.
Asean's response to Israel-Hamas war
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 17/10/2023
» More than ever before, the current Israeli-Hamas war has revealed the starkly different positions and views held by the 10 Asean members towards the abiding conflict in the Middle East. Asean has not issued a joint statement over the brutal attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which launched a large-scale offensive from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel on Oct 7.
Can Thai passports' power get a lift?
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 19/09/2023
» At the first cabinet meeting last week, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced one of the government's priorities -- improving the power of Thai passports. It is a headline goal that will require extraordinary efforts to achieve. Upgrading a national passport to a higher level involves numerous factors -- economic, socio-cultural, and political -- as well as the general optics of the partnership countries. After all, the large number of visitors to a country is not an indicator of how powerful its passport is. A country might be given more visa-free accessibility and be popular for foreign passports, but its own passport's power can still be low.
New playbook for Thai diplomacy?
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 12/09/2023
» The Srettha government has started outlining its policies in parliament. Regarding diplomacy and internal policies, two paragraphs in the middle of the draft speech encapsulate the guiding principle of Thailand's new diplomatic trajectory.
Competitiveness affects Indonesia ties
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 27/06/2023
» Just two years ago, Thailand and Indonesia commemorated the 70th anniversary of relations, with both sides holding events to celebrate. Over the year, they mapped out various plans that would boost bilateral ties with the aim of establishing and hastening a "strategic partnership". These included strengthening political and economic relations, investment, as well as people-to-people exchanges. In particular, both countries would establish "High-Level Committees" in their law enforcement agencies, including the police and military, to counter common challenges such as narcotics, human trafficking and call centre scams. Then a month later came the Myanmar quagmire.
Thai diplomacy has come full circle
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 18/04/2023
» After eight arduous years, Thai diplomacy has come full circle. With 26 days to go before the next general election on May 14, the international community is wondering whether there will be any change in the country's overall diplomatic outlook. Since the dark days leading up to the intervention in May 2014, Thailand has undertaken an extraordinary journey given the state in which the country was caught with its deteriorated standing in the global community. Critics varied in their assessments of Thai foreign policy under deep stress. Indeed, the long winding diplomatic road revealed both the strengths and weaknesses of strenuous efforts to protect national interests amid the competition of the great powers and in tackling the unavoidable ripple effects caused by an increasingly polarised world.
Rising S Korea deepens ties with Asean
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 20/09/2022
» To witness the dynamism of South Korea's rise and its relationship with Asean and each bloc member, it is important to attend the reception marking the national day of Vietnam.
'Sceptical' Asean vis-a-vis 'maverick' US
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 10/05/2022
» The timing and venue of the upcoming special summit between Asean and US leaders later this week are extraordinary. However, the ways in which the unusual strategic circumstances and tensions could further shape the trajectory of Asean-US relations remain to be seen. With the new schedule of the May 12-13 summit in Washington DC and the fresh developments on the ground at home and abroad, the summit will be conducted in a very cautious manner to prevent any spill-over effects or unintended consequences. Indeed, there is a high level of scepticism among the Asean members as to what the US has up its sleeve. The American gung-ho rhetoric has been quite worrisome.