Asean worries about Thailand’s ability to lead grouping amid political challenges

[webfact]

Asean worries about Thailand’s ability to lead grouping amid political challenges

By SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE 
THE NATION

 

FILES: Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (L) receives the gavel from Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (R) as a transfer of the ASEAN Chairmanship during the closing ceremony of the 33rd Association of ASEAN Summit. //EPA-EFE PHOTO

 

CAN THAILAND handle the upcoming general election and also chair Asean in the same year?

 

 This was a question posed by Asean colleagues last year to Thai officials during a meeting of the 10-member bloc, suggesting a lack of confidence in the Kingdom’s ability to carry out the important tasks.

 

Diplomats told The Nation that they did not want to see political turmoil in Thailand jeopardise Asean meetings any more, as the regional grouping badly needed to push forward many relevant issues for the group to achieve centrality of regional security architecture and economic integration. 

 

Protests in April 2009 had forced a cancellation of the Asean Summit in Pattaya, after anti-government red-shirts stormed the meeting venue, humiliating the then-government led by the Democrat Party.

 

Elections and a military coup d’etat since then have failed to achieve reconciliation, heal the divisions in society or restore stability to Thai politics. If the incumbent leaders managed to exploit the coming election to justify the perpetuation of their power, the Asean chairmanship could run into trouble due to domestic political struggle, diplomats said. 

 

The first Asean Summit in Thailand has been set for late June to avoid a power vacuum during the formation of the new government after the election. Usually, Asean hosts two summits a year – the first one is an in-house summit due in March or April and the final one is with dialogue partners, including leaders of superpowers, in November.

 

“Asean leaders have to wait for the first meeting until the middle of the year, when they should have had the opportunity to hold the meetings early,” former career diplomat Kobsak Chutikul said.

 

“We would not have faced this situation if the government had held the election in 2018,” he said. “They could have done it [elections] but they didn’t and have led the country to difficulties.” Asean diplomats said they hoped Thailand could set up a new government without problems and a smooth transition would enable the country to steer the progress of Asean. 

 

File photo: Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (L) receives the gavel from Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (R) as a transfer of the ASEAN Chairmanship during the closing ceremony of the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related meetings in Singapore, 15 November 2018. Singapore is hosting the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings under the theme 'Resilient and Innovative' this year. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

 

With the theme of “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability”, Thailand is unlikely to push any relevant issues if incumbent leaders manage to retain power after the election, Kobsak said. “They are not visionary leaders for foreign affairs.” 

 

There are plenty of tough issues for Thailand to deal with under its leadership in 2019, including the Rakhine crisis in Myanmar, the contentious South China Sea and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

 

Heavyweight Asean leader and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said recently that Asean needed to press Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the Rakhine crisis. Asean should also join the international community in addressing the genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state if Suu Kyi and other responsible leaders failed to tackle the issue properly, he said.

 

More than 720,000 refugees have fled Rakhine since August 2017 after militant attacks on Myanmar security outposts prompted a tough reaction from the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military). While Asean has urged Myanmar leaders to address the issue at its root cause by eliminating discrimination against the ethnic group, Thailand has consistently focused its limited involvement on the humanitarian side. 

 

The burden of proximity, close military-to-military relations and economic interests have forced Thailand to refrain from tough engagement with Myanmar over the Rohingya issue, said Kobsak, who is a former member of an advisory board on Rakhine crisis.

 

Under Thailand’s leadership, Asean wants to push ahead a text for negotiating a code of conduct in the contentious South China Sea. The group intended to finish the text by 2019, but outside observers expressed their concerns that the code of conduct would be too influenced by China. 

 

Beijing is at loggerheads with many Asean members – Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – over a territorial dispute on the South China Sea. The group wants to have a legally binding code of conduct with China to control the behaviour of riparian states while Beijing has increasingly militarised the islands in the sea. 

 

Asean also wanted to see significant progress in negotiations on the RCEP by 2019, but Mahathir said Malaysia would not sign the pact unless it benefited poor people.

 

Differences between China and India over RCEP would also obstruct its achievement, according to officials close to the negotiations, who added that Thailand’s leadership is crucial.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30361455

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-02

[Tradewind777]

ASEAN is a ongoing soap opera, never really dealing with issues or achieving anything. The main reason is that they maintain a policy of non-interference in individual country’s affairs or politics, which all sounds fine but ends up with the usual Thai-style avoiding disputes until they become so big and overwhelming, it ends in chaos. They cannot be taken seriously and should just stick to trade and security on border issues. Anything deeper is beyond ASEAN’s ability to achieve anything.

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand is unlikely to push any relevant issues

that about sums it up, asean is hot air, not that military thailand could lead any group of anything

[lvr181]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

would enable the country to steer the progress of Asean. 

Thailand does not "steer" (certainly not the more modern nations of ASEAN). A 'picture' comes to mind of a square plug in a round hole. 

[mok199]

Thailand's expertise is ''Brake failure and honest taxi stories''..FIN

[Lupatria]

In case Thailand would be stripped off the leadership due to lack of qualification, they will probably start a war against their neighbors, and even the last nationalist hillbilly will pick up his gun or slingshot to fight the ungrateful and disrespectful foreigners. Expect the HTMS Chakri Naruebet on route to the Singapore straits.

Regarding the photo:

I wish I could've borrowed the hammer for a moment.

[Fex Bluse]

The only real purpose of the AEC is for the Chinese families that dominate almost every single one of the ASEAN economies to make more money by establishing more formal, enforceable trade relationships.

 

This is what the Chinese are good at. They pretend to care about sovereignty, but the Chinese in SEA are most concerned with money. The Thai Chinese will wave Thai flags while cutting deals with their cousins in other SEA countries that make them money but may exploit other Thais.

 

Other than this, ASEAN and AEC is a total joke not to be taken seriously.

[DrTuner]

ASEAN does sod all so no worries, a dead man could lead it.

[DrTuner]

8 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

The only real purpose of the AEC is for the Chinese families that dominate almost every single one of the ASEAN economies to make more money by establishing more formal, enforceable trade relationships.

 

This is what the Chinese are good at. They pretend to care about sovereignty, but the Chinese in SEA are most concerned with money. The Thai Chinese will wave Thai flags while cutting deals with their cousins in other SEA countries that make them money but may exploit other Thais.

Empire 101, Chinese are bulding one with their deeply embedded infiltrators and road&belt schemes. Some African countries already fell for the trap. Nothing new, East India Company played the same book with the Brits. Let's hope the commies screw it up as is their traditional custom.

 

Here's what's in store for the colonies once they've taken over proper: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/01/asia/hong-kong-democracy-benny-tai-intl/index.html

[Darcula]

 

I will not fight you brother.  I must go back to Asgard, but I give you my word. I will return for you.

[Fex Bluse]

3 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Empire 101, Chinese are bulding one with their deeply embedded infiltrators and road&belt schemes. Some African countries already fell for the trap. Nothing new, East India Company played the same book with the Brits. Let's hope the commies screw it up as is their traditional custom.

Well, there is hope in that the Americans have begun the process of disentangling China's economy with theirs (and some other western countries' economies). That process will take a decade or two, but, perhaps in our lifetimes (if I live long enough...), we will see the Chinese own their own, fighting for a dwindling number of friends.

 

The problem of course is that they are rather crafty and like the Borg (or sociopaths, free of any ethical or religious doctrine) seem able to switch on and off their charm and smiles convincing endlessly naive westerners that they are no threat. We've fallen for it multiple times already.  One hopes the lesson will stick this time. None of the buggers are friendly or plan to play by the rules.

[RichardColeman]

Considering Thailand cannot control its own roads over Xmas and the new year, they are quite right to have little faith !

[DM07]

The "success"- story about the road safety- campaign for the latest holidays, quiet clearly shows: Thailand -even without political challenges- could not "lead" a p!$$ up in a brewery!

[lvr181]

6 hours ago, DM07 said:

The "success"- story about the road safety- campaign for the latest holidays, quiet clearly shows: Thailand -even without political challenges- could not "lead" a p!$$ up in a brewery!

Or sex in a brothel.

[zzaa09]

10 hours ago, YetAnother said:

that about sums it up, asean is hot air, not that military thailand could lead any group of anything

Not that the ASEAN body is terribly sainted, regardless of scheming and crafted ideals.

 

They all deserve one another.

[pmh2009]

ASEAN is a failure... it tries to imitate the EU and we all know where they are!!! The EU tries to imitate the US of A!!! and we know where they are!!!!  The main thing is that no one has a truly new concept for for uniting whatever countries whichever region they are. That is why the Eu and ASEAN are failing. 

[chama]

A country with no legal leadership cannot lead.