• OPINION

  Thailand gets ready to take Asean chair

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 13/11/2018

  » A decade after living through the devastating experience of the 2009 Asean summit, the kingdom will have another chance to regain its regional leadership and reputation. Singapore will pass the baton to Thailand on Nov 15 as the Asean chair. Although the official role will kick off in January, Bangkok will get the ball rolling immediately.

• OPINION

  4 big challenges for Thailand as Asean chair

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 20/11/2018

  » Last week, Singapore handed the incoming Asean chair, Thailand, four formidable challenges that would define Asean's centrality and its relevance, not to mention the kingdom's leadership role. These issues are the nascent Indo-Pacific concept, the Rakhine crisis, peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and the drafting of a code of conduct (COC) on the South China Sea.

• OPINION

  Asean engages global strategic partners

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 27/11/2018

  » The Trump administration's chaotic and erratic diplomacy has prompted Asean to intensify and widen engagement with its strategic partners. At its recent summit in Singapore, Asean elevated Russia and the European Union to its eighth and ninth strategic partners, respectively.

• OPINION

  Watch out for Asean's new Indo-Pacific

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 04/12/2018

  » If everything goes as planned, members of the United Nations Security Council will have a rendezvous in Bangkok at the end of 2019. Asean leaders will use the occasion to display to the world's most powerful players their collective leadership on the new vision of an Asia-wide region stretching from South Asia to Northeast Asia. Even though it is still nearly a year away, preparations for the first meeting between Asean leaders and the Big 5 (the council's five permanent members) have already started in earnest.

• OPINION

  Cambodia's key role in regional security

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 11/12/2018

  » Last month, Asia Times, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, reported that China has lobbied Cambodia for a naval base in Koh Kong province on the Gulf of Thailand, prompting the Cambodian government to deny the news.

• OPINION

  Re-imagining Taiwan's ties with Asean

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 18/12/2018

  » Taiwan's relationship with Southeast Asia is moving towards a new dynamic. It is no longer confined to trade, investment or the long-standing one-China policy. Now, it is all about people-to-people relations, as more Southeast Asians are coming to the island to work, study and settle down. They are collectively known locally as sin tai-ker or new Taiwan's guests.

• OPINION

  Thailand's economic goals as Asean chair

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 25/12/2018

  » After nearly five years of painstakingly building up diplomatic and economic resilience under military rule, Thailand is embarking on an important mission as the chair of Asean throughout 2019. The stakes are extremely high, judging from the economic agenda set forth by the government.

• OPINION

  Waiting for a more proactive Asean

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 08/01/2019

  » For the rest of 2019, Asean cannot be shy and hide in a corner. The regional and global environment requires the grouping to be more vigilant and proactive in ways that would promote better dialogue and cooperation among member countries and key dialogue partners.

• OPINION

  The significance of Asean's retreats

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 15/01/2019

  » Asean's foreign ministers will meet for the first time under Thailand's chairmanship in Chiang Mai on Thursday and Friday.

• OPINION

  Asean must make EU a strategic partner

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 22/01/2019

  » Asean can be vicious, as relations with the European Union demonstrate. At the Chiang Mai retreat last week, the official status of the EU as a new strategic dialogue partner was one of the prominent issues taken up by Asean foreign ministers. The press statement issued by the chair simply said that the EU's status, which Asean has agreed in principle, is still subject "to further details and time to be worked out". In a nutshell, it is still in limbo.

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