Prayuth, Thailand and the war in Ukraine . . . .

[TorquayFan]

"The Thai prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army general who first came to power in a coup, denied he had intervened in Channel 5’s case or requested the channel stop reporting on the war – but has said excessive commentary should be avoided. Thailand, whose foreign policy has traditionally been likened to bamboo “bending with the wind”, has maintained that it has a neutral stance on the war. It did, however, vote in favour of a UN resolution that condemned Russia."

"The Thai government faces an awkward balancing act. Russia is not a key trading partner, but, post-Covid, Russians have accounted for one of the largest groups of tourists arriving in Thailand. Later this year Thailand will chair the Apec summit, where 21 nations including Russia, the US and China with gather. Prayuth said all news media should avoid giving too much analysis. Doing so, he said, “will cause problems to the overall image of our country”.

There's no 'awkward balancing act' at all. Stand up to be counted Thailand - this makes me ashamed to be here . . . .

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/06/in-thailand-the-war-in-ukraine-divides-the-generations

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by TorquayFan

[Whale]

I just read this as well. Always surprised to see such stories about this place in the international media. There should be more. Shows how poor the media here is.

[TorquayFan]

I see that Thailand abstained in the vote at the UN expelling Russia from the HRC. Other abstainers include Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, S. Africa and Nigeria. In many cases, nice Company to keep ?

 

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/singapore-abstains-vote-suspend-russia-un-human-rights-council-001357804.html

 

Kwasaki - I noticed your 'sad' emoji earlier - is that sad post or sad situation ? I would honestly be interested i your thoughts.