Thailand-Russia relations remain strong, but at what cost?

[webfact]

Despite the West's best efforts to isolate Russia on the international stage following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow still enjoys warm relations with countries in Asia — Thailand being among them.

 

This past week, at the Belt and Road summit in Beijing, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin hailed Thailand and Russia's "long-standing close relationship" after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

Srettha posted about his first meeting with Putin as Thai PM on X, formerly known as Twitter. Both discussed increasing trade and cultural ties, he said, and Putin accepted Srettha's invitation to visit Thailand next year.

Business at the heart of Srettha's motives

Experts say Srettha, who is a real estate tycoon, is just focusing on business.

 

"To boost the Thai economy to like 4%, and above, you need some foreign exchange. You need some customers. I think it's not like he's turned to Putin at the expense of the West. He wants to do both," Thitinan Pondsudhirak, a political analyst in Bangkok, told DW.

 

"While the social media backlash has taken the shine off his recent visit with Putin at the BRI Forum, Srettha cannot afford to be limited by optics only," said Mark S. Cogan, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kansai University, Japan.

 

"Thailand is still heavily tourism dependent, and while not as much so as it is on Chinese tourism, Russian attraction and investment in Thailand cannot be ignored," he said.

 

Tommy Walker in Bangkok

TOP picture: The West has taken a dim view of those that maintain relations with Russian President Vladimir PutinImage: Grigory Sysoyev/dpa/picture alliance

 

Full story: DW 2023-10-21

 

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[sammieuk1]

What part are you not understanding Srettha Putin is a wanted war criminal for untold amounts of terrorism around the world you should be chining him not sucking him you have gone Ruble blind and its disgusting 🤔 

[Pouatchee]

when Jimmy crackcorn, the only cost is people's opinions. in the end this is what these guys think, 'what you gonna do, hen?'

[Tom H]

Maybe in a delay on the ratification of the European Free Trade agreement with Thailand?

 

Vietnam has one, btw.

Big success.

[ikke1959]

birds of a feather flock together

[bob smith]

disgusting.

 

spineless Thailand never ceases to amaze me.

[sscc]

In Beijing five days ago,  Putin initiated and invited Srettha for a short gathering.  It surprised Srettha and the Thai entourage.   So why not ?  it does not hurt Thailand a bit,  but there is an opportunity out there. 

 

[MikeandDow]

5 minutes ago, sscc said:

In Beijing five days ago,  Putin initiated and invited Srettha for a short gathering.  It surprised Srettha and the Thai entourage.   So why not ?  it does not hurt Thailand a bit,  but there is an opportunity out there. 

 

How do you know  " It surprised Srettha and the Thai entourage."  where you there !!!!!

[Des1]

6 minutes ago, sscc said:

In Beijing five days ago,  Putin initiated and invited Srettha for a short gathering.  It surprised Srettha and the Thai entourage.   So why not ?  it does not hurt Thailand a bit,  but there is an opportunity out there. 

 

It does hurt Thailand, in many ways.It's very much about choosing sides and Thailand's actions will not go unnoticed.

[Olav Seglem]

Tell me your friend etc...

And they dont understand why they didnt get F35 ...:-)

 

[JensenZ]

33 minutes ago, Des1 said:

It does hurt Thailand, in many ways.It's very much about choosing sides and Thailand's actions will not go unnoticed.

Would you be able to give just one or two examples of how it actually hurts Thailand? 

[oxo1947]

1 hour ago, Tom H said:

Maybe in a delay on the ratification of the European Free Trade agreement with Thailand?

Well if we are going to fair about this, --Punishing people that are increasing their trade with Russia, then we (The West) might want stop trading so much Saudi & with China..........

Oh wait a minute, My new Iphone.

 

Maybe not. then...lets just give Thailand a kick., seems to be the safer option..............

[Jenkins9039]

Russia and China are nearby, makes sense Thailand does business with.

[John Drake]

2 hours ago, Des1 said:

It does hurt Thailand, in many ways.It's very much about choosing sides and Thailand's actions will not go unnoticed.

It is clear that Thailand has chosen to be a Chinese satrapy. I think this pretty much seals the deal for most of mainland Southeast Asia. Accordingly, the US needs immediately to stop funneling money and investment into Thailand. So too should it stop dreaming that Vietnam is an alternative. The Vietnamese are just trying to leverage money out of the US. They will never realign from China. That leaves Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar firmly in China's grip. If the US still wants to fund and build up a country in the region, it should refocus on the Philippines, which has strong cultural, political, and military ties to the US. The Philippines' population is better educated and more capable of participating with the US as an economic partner. But the US should go cold turkey on Thailand. Cancel Cobra Gold immediately, raise import tariffs on Thai goods to match Thai tariffs, curtail Thai ownership of US property and companies, and put Thailand immediately under sanctions if it allows Chinese companies to relocate to Thailand in order to evade existing sanctions on them. Sever all military and political connections--all that does is provide information that will go directly to China. Let Thailand be free to act in its best interests. The US is free to do so as well. And it is no longer in the US' best interests to waste anymore time and resources on Thailand.

[MikeandDow]

2 minutes ago, John Drake said:

It is clear that Thailand has chosen to be a Chinese satrapy. I think this pretty much seals the deal for most of mainland Southeast Asia. Accordingly, the US needs immediately to stop funneling money and investment into Thailand. So too should it stop dreaming that Vietnam is an alternative. The Vietnamese are just trying to leverage money out of the US. They will never realign from China. That leaves Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar firmly in China's grip. If the US still wants to fund and build up a country in the region, it should refocus on the Philippines, which has strong cultural, political, and military ties to the US. The Philippines' population is better educated and more capable of participating with the US as an economic partner. But the US should go cold turkey on Thailand. Cancel Cobra Gold immediately, raise import tariffs on Thai goods to match Thai tariffs, curtail Thai ownership of US property and companies, and put Thailand immediately under sanctions if it allows Chinese companies to relocate to Thailand in order to evade existing sanctions on them. Sever all military and political connections--all that does is provide information that will go directly to China. Let Thailand be free to act in its best interests. The US is free to do so as well. And it is no longer in the US' best interests to waste anymore time and resources on Thailand.

yes let them run to china and russia there economies are booming

[Des1]

2 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Would you be able to give just one or two examples of how it actually hurts Thailand? 

My thoughts on this are not about trade, but rather the dark road we are going down with the rise of authoritarian regimes. We are a species of warring tribes, history cannot be denied and we are long overdue for another global conflict and we are moving in that direction. Thailand may try to take the position of neutrality. They held on to that idea while capitulating to the Japanese in our previous world war, or they may decide to hitch their wagon to Russia and China. No one is fooled by that. As I said, it’s about choosing sides when deciding what sort of world we want to live in. China has no friends in Asia, aside from Russia and North Korea. That speaks volumes. Actions have consequences. Just my opinion.

[John Drake]

4 minutes ago, Des1 said:

China has no friends in Asia, aside from Russia and North Korea. That speaks volumes. Actions have consequences. Just my opinion.

Yes, that's true. But it does have clients in Laos, Cambodia, and for all the disguised complaining on Vietnam's part, Vietnam. Thailand is becoming one, too. Already, in northern Laos, and this was ten years ago, Chinese nationals have simply moved into the country and set up shop. The figure I saw at the time was 800,000 Chinese. Now, with Thailand's visa free entry for Chinese, the way is set up for the process to be repeated in Thailand. Once they're in, you'll never get the Chinese out. Besides they already have plenty of "cousins" in Thailand to help with their settlement and colonization.

[MikeandDow]

14 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Yes, that's true. But it does have clients in Laos, Cambodia, and for all the disguised complaining on Vietnam's part, Vietnam. Thailand is becoming one, too. Already, in northern Laos, and this was ten years ago, Chinese nationals have simply moved into the country and set up shop. The figure I saw at the time was 800,000 Chinese. Now, with Thailand's visa free entry for Chinese, the way is set up for the process to be repeated in Thailand. Once they're in, you'll never get the Chinese out. Besides they already have plenty of "cousins" in Thailand to help with their settlement and colonization.

Thailand has never been colonized per se, but Srettha has just opened the door

[retarius]

4 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

What part are you not understanding Srettha Putin is a wanted war criminal for untold amounts of terrorism around the world you should be chining him not sucking him you have gone Ruble blind and its disgusting 🤔 

On wanted trumped up charges about removing unaccompanied children from a war zone. Grow up will you? Read something about these issues instead of swallowing BBC or CNN propaganda hook line and sinker.

[Jingthing]

Disgusted by this of course though I do understand the business motive.

I do wonder considering that Pita should have been PM (but we all know why he isn't) whether he would have behaved differently towards genocidal war criminal Putin, or not? 

[gearbox]

3 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Would you be able to give just one or two examples of how it actually hurts Thailand? 

A bunch of broke retirees are threatening to leave.

[connda]

Thailand-Russia relations remain strong, but at what cost?

A few thousand angry, p*ssed-off, Russia-hating Western expats?

Other than that, the mutually beneficial business trade and tourism should be a plus for both countries.
If you're trading, you're not fighting.

[Jingthing]

Just now, connda said:

Thailand-Russia relations remain strong, but at what cost?

A few thousand angry, p*ssed-off, Russia-hating Western expats?

Other than that, the mutually beneficial business trade and tourism should be a plus for both countries.
If you're trading, you're not fighting.

It's not really Russia hating.

It's about specific things that Russia is doing under their genocidal war criminal dictator Putin. 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Experts say Srettha, who is a real estate tycoon, is just focusing on business.

Good for him. good luck with future business talks in the EU in the future.

[gearbox]

Just now, connda said:

Thailand-Russia relations remain strong, but at what cost?

A few thousand angry, p*ssed-off, Russia-hating Western expats?

Other than that, the mutually beneficial business trade and tourism should be a plus for both countries.
If you're trading, you're not fighting.

Eventual Putin visit is a non event for most Thais, they don't know who Putin is.

[gearbox]

4 hours ago, Tom H said:

Maybe in a delay on the ratification of the European Free Trade agreement with Thailand?

 

Vietnam has one, btw.

Big success.

Big success for who? The Vietnamese don't have multinationals and big brands. It will be used by the Chinese and others to set up manufacturing there and funnel goods to EU tariff free,  same way as Australia gets a lot of "Thai" cars.

[EchoPlus]

Thailand is securing cheap access to primary resources.

Smart move.

[MikeandDow]

12 minutes ago, retarius said:

On wanted trumped up charges about removing unaccompanied children from a war zone. Grow up will you? Read something about these issues instead of swallowing BBC or CNN propaganda hook line and sinker.

so you think  the ICC charges against Putin are false, think you should read the ICC charges  and you dont belive in war crimes like this  hang your head in shame, this is just the start of his wae crimes

17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.

Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).

Pre-Trial Chamber II considered, based on the Prosecution’s applications of 22 February 2023, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.

 

[nutosf]

Thailand is like the partner who is never there when you need them. 

[MikeandDow]

26 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Eventual Putin visit is a non event for most Thais, they don't know who Putin is.

They are not taught world affairs in school  "Blinkers on" nor world history