Thailand Gets Real With India: Opinion

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REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Thailand gets real with India

BANGKOK: -- Despite thousands of years of common history and culture, Thailand and India have not bonded in the modern world. Thailand has repeatedly glossed over the civilisation that inspired Southeast Asian countries and helped form their identities. The Thai adores the Western civilisation.

Fortunately, though, India remains a land of pilgrimage for several hundreds of thousands of Thai Buddhists each year, tracing the legend of Buddhism. Last week, visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a great gift to Thailand - a sapling of the Maha Bodhi Tree - the tree under which Lord Buddha attained enlightenment.

In January 2012, during her landmark visit to New Delhi as the Indian government's guest of honour for the country's Republic Day celebrations, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged the Indian side to upgrade their relations to a "strategic partnership". Since then, both countries have been working very hard to augment the newfound strategic values. Although Singh's visit was less than 20 hours long, both sides managed to produce a joint statement of nearly 3,000 words - one of the longest in the annals of Thailand's bilateral relations. The 41 paragraphs captured the whole spectrum of Thai-India relations with diplomatic niceties. In fact, there is more to these ancient relations than meets the eye.

Both sides have their compatible strategies. India has pursued its "Look East" policy since 1992, immediately after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, as a tool to move closer to Asia, especially Asean, to increase trade and draw in investment. Thailand's "Look West" came only a decade ago, after losing the best opportunities to other Asean members. Bangkok's westward movement was not new and it was supposed to encompass the whole of West Asia, including Pakistan, Iran and even Turkey. But so far, India has been the focus. Back in 1977, Bangkok was instrumental in setting up BIMSTEC, which recently renamed itself under the original acronym as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Both Thailand and India are the driving force of this grouping.

Over the past three years, their ties have been reinvigorated as their leaders met frequently and additional schemes of cooperation were added reflecting shifts in priorities due to the new landscape in broader Asia. India has now singled out Thailand as a top strategic asset, ahead of Singapore. During the visit, both countries managed to increase bilateral cooperation to partake in regional schemes in terms of connectivity and maritime security areas. India has shown keen interest to invest in the Dawei Deep Seaport and its Special Economic Zone since it was conceived in 2003. But Thailand ignored India altogether for a long time, despite repeated overtures from the Indian government and private sector. The stumbling block was removed last week when Thailand officially invited India for the first time to invest in the money-starved mega-project. Now, the country can truly be a gateway for India and West Asia.

Quite a few Indian companies, according to Indian Ambassador Anil Wadhwa, including Essar Group, have the capital and technical know-how to invest and participate in the deep seaport development. Essar is currently engaging in various projects to develop the seaport in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The invitation to India came after Prime Minister Yingluck's recent visit to Tokyo when the fate of Dawei was discussed. For the time being, potential funders such as Japan, China and other Western countries have not yet made definite financial commitments, which requires as much as US$8.6 billion (Bt261.44 billion) investment during the first phase. The Thai government took over the project two years ago from Italian-Thai Development Co.

Soon both countries have to sit together and identify deliverable projects linking India, Myanmar, Thailand and the rest of Asean. India has invited Thailand for a road show on its soil and urged potential Thai investors to join in the trilateral highway project to produce "seamless" connectivity between the three countries. The project is also part and parcel of a broader connectivity project. India is improving its national connectivity such as the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Corridor, which later on can be linked to the Mekong-India Economic Corridor and beyond. India contributes $1 million to the Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute of Asean and East Asia, which has already drawn up a comprehensive plan to boost Asean-India connectivity.

Lest we forget the security aspect: In 1997, Thailand joined India as the second country in Asia to have its own aircraft carrier - Chakri Naruebet. After a few years in service, mainly in disaster relief and humanitarian operations, there were discussions for refurbishment of a weapons system by India in early 2000 but no progress was made. Since then, Chakri Nareubet has been retired and has become a mammoth museum piece in Chon Buri. However, with a nearly 1,000-kilometre common maritime border in the Andaman Sea, their navies continue to cooperate closely through joint naval exercises to help curb piracy and other forms of seaborne transnational crimes. Strengthening maritime security cooperation will be one of the top priorities. Both share common views that international sea-lanes must be freely accessed and safety guaranteed. India also has pledged to improve the capacity of Thailand's coast guards.

When it comes down to people-to-people level, a lot more can be done. Now that an extradition treaty has been signed between the two countries, erasing India's longstanding security concerns, New Delhi can quickly free its stringent visa regime for Thai passport holders to increase tourism. Last year, more than 1.2 million Indians visited Thailand while only 120,000 Thais visited there. Indians can get visas on arrival at the point of entry in the country but Thais could not while Filipinos, Laotians, Vietnamese and Cambodians enjoy the privilege. The combined tourists from these countries visiting India were only one-fifth of the Thai visitors.

Apart from tourists, many Thai students continue to choose India for overseas education with nearly 10,000 students studying there, including in elementary schools. With Thammasat University offering a BA course in Indian Studies this year, the first of its kind, interest in India among Thai students will certainly increase. While this linkage has been highlighted by the officials, other Indian popular culture is slowly making a comeback in Thailand. Indian films have returned to theatres after a two-decade absence and being confined to VDO rentals. Many Indian films are now being shot in Thailand. Indian garments are still in vogue. Tandoori chicken beat the Thai grilled version at shopping malls. Indian chai (milk tea) is more popular than ever with, of course, some Taiwanese variations.

All said and done, Thailand and Thais still have to change their mindset when it comes to their overall perception of India. With more Indians visiting here, realistic and positive images of India are emerging, replacing past prejudices. Without acceleration and sustaining of this healthy trend, the joint statement signed last week will prove hollow.


-- The Nation 2013-06-03

[amrishtony]

Its all about money money money.

[ratcatcher]

The average Thai is not keen on "kheks". They regard them with some disdain due to a difference in diet and consequential body odor.

I happen to like Indian food and have met some very nice Indians.

Edited June 3, 2013 by ratcatcher

[rfukata]

thai's have to understand curry originated from India

[amrishtony]

There are good and Bad people in every part of this world. When it comes to Body Odor, Thai's blame others to hide their own body odor.

When thai people compere Indians to "disdain" they should look at the number of Indian tourist visited thailand and how many thai tourists visited India?

Well we all know the thai society well, its always about money and saving the "face" stuff.

[ratcatcher]

thai's have to understand curry originated from India

So did Siddhārtha Gautama.

[dru2]

There's an old - an unpleasant - Thai saying: "If you meet a snake and an Indian, kill the Indian first".

[ratcatcher]

There's an old - an unpleasant - Thai saying: "If you meet a snake and an Indian, kill the Indian first".

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/1174565/report-who-is-worse-an-indian-or-a-snake

[Tomtomtom69]

The average Thai is not keen on "kheks". They regard them with some disdain due to a difference in diet and consequential body odor.

I happen to like Indian food and have met some very nice Indians.

Thai curries are not only delicious, they are also healthy. Turmeric, which is present in many curries has been shown to ward off Alzheimer's. My understanding is that Alzheimer's is rather uncommon in India, especially amongst people who are eating the traditional diet. In Thailand, Alzheimer's is skyrocketing, no doubt partly due to poor diet, which is high in sugar, the number one culprit that contributes to diseases affecting the brain, heart and other bodily organs, not to mention diabetes.

[Tomtomtom69]

" India has invited Thailand for a road show on its soil and urged potential Thai investors to join in the trilateral highway project to produce "seamless" connectivity between the three countries. The project is also part and parcel of a broader connectivity project."

Nice typical diplomatic drivel that will eventually lead nowhere. First of all, India and Thailand are not direct neighbors - so for proper connectivity to occur, Myanmar's co-operation is needed. And as I and other posters have pointed out in another article about the recent visit to India by PM Yingluck, the proposal to link the two countries by road will either never happen or could take decades to be realized for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Myanmar still has security issues in border areas with India, particularly in Kachin and Rakhine States (which also borders Bangladesh). The road infrastructure is still not quite there and Myanmar is reluctant to let foreigners, even those from neighboring countries just use it's highways to travel overland to other countries. Myanmar's borders with India have effectively been closed for more than 50 years. I don't think they are in a hurry to open them. I can just imagine Myanmar all smiles about opening this highway at a meeting with Thai and Indian officials but once implemented Indian and Thai trucks will be stuck at their respective borders with customs officers stating that all trade has to be placed on Myanmar registered trucks. Cars still won't be allowed to enter except with an expensive MT&T approved tour and guide, as is the case now.

So all of this "increased connectivity" crap is hogwash. It ain't going to happen for years if not decades (or perhaps ever) and why would anyone want to drive from Kolkata to Bangkok anyway? Even if borders could be passed fairly easily, which I highly doubt, it would still take about 2-3 days compared to the current 2 hour flight. I can see high-speed railways and good quality expressways between Kunming and Bangkok eventually, but that's because China is involved. India doesn't have the political will to develop it's NE border regions. It only develops them enough to stave off unrest but seriously, what is there in those regions that is of economic benefit for the country as a whole? Not much...

[foxteen]

The average Thai is not keen on "kheks". They regard them with some disdain due to a difference in diet and consequential body odor.

I happen to like Indian food and have met some very nice Indians.

Thai curries are not only delicious, they are also healthy. Turmeric, which is present in many curries has been shown to ward off Alzheimer's. My understanding is that Alzheimer's is rather uncommon in India, especially amongst people who are eating the traditional diet. In Thailand, Alzheimer's is skyrocketing, no doubt partly due to poor diet, which is high in sugar, the number one culprit that contributes to diseases affecting the brain, heart and other bodily organs, not to mention diabetes.

Quite agree about Turmeric and i add to my diet from 2 years ago.Alzheimer's disease is sad for people

[Payboy]

Snake, schmake - when the Indians spend their money, they'll get their happy ending just like everyone else, I guess.

[Bellweather]

Thailand may not have been that involved with India but the Shinawatras's through Shin Corp certainly did / still do. As PM Mr. T went on a secret mission of " national importance ' to an indian state where Shin had a communications contract due for renewal as negotiations had stalled and weeks after his return a new contract was signed.

[phantomfiddler]

From where I am sitting, one caucasian oilrig worker spends more than 50 of our visiting indian brethren, who no doubt boost tourist numbers and make statistics look great but that,s about all. Love a good masala though

[dluek]

thai's have to understand curry originated from India

So did Siddhārtha Gautama.

So did the Ramayana (the Indian epic that Thai kings are named after), and Brahma (the Hindu god depicted in practically every Thai home's spirit house), and Songkhran (based on an originally Indian festival) and much, much more. I always find the negative attitude of so many modern Thais towards India to be quite curious, considering how so much of the Thai cultural identity is actually a re-hash of Indian stuff.

Anyway, what didn't come from India came from China or Sri Lanka or the Khmer, or nowadays the West... As much as many Thais would hate to hear this, there's really not that much in Thai culture that you can say is historically/authentically 'Thai'.

[aussiebebe]

So "India remains a land of pilgrimage for several hundreds of thousands of Thai Buddhists each year" yet last year "only 120,000 Thais visited there"? I'm confused, which one is it? Or is a pilgrimage not a visit?

[Robby nz]

India is interested in Dawei yet they are already working on another port in Burma

Essar is currently engaging in various projects to develop the seaport in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state

Ok so Dawei could be a direct link with Thailand and India but is it that important to them that they would be willing to put up the amount of money needed now that Japan and the US have gone elsewhere?

[ratcatcher]

India is interested in Dawei yet they are already working on another port in Burma

Essar is currently engaging in various projects to develop the seaport in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state

Ok so Dawei could be a direct link with Thailand and India but is it that important to them that they would be willing to put up the amount of money needed now that Japan and the US have gone elsewhere?

To be precise. NO!

[Thai at Heart]

India is interested in Dawei yet they are already working on another port in Burma

Essar is currently engaging in various projects to develop the seaport in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state

Ok so Dawei could be a direct link with Thailand and India but is it that important to them that they would be willing to put up the amount of money needed now that Japan and the US have gone elsewhere?

To be precise. NO!

Exactomundo. Daiwei is dai-ing on its feet.

[vivek130205]

There's an old - an unpleasant - Thai saying: "If you meet a snake and an Indian, kill the Indian first".

. who ever invented that saying copied it from Indian origin person . get real dude , no hard feelings against any national. Indians have done pretty well in all domains, the least u can do is 2 keep urself quiet rather than disgracing others

[bigbamboo]

India is interested in Dawei yet they are already working on another port in Burma

Essar is currently engaging in various projects to develop the seaport in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state

Ok so Dawei could be a direct link with Thailand and India but is it that important to them that they would be willing to put up the amount of money needed now that Japan and the US have gone elsewhere?

To be precise. NO!

Exactomundo. Daiwei is dai-ing on its feet.

As is the Indian economy.

The problem here for Thailand is that India are looking for investors too.

[hellodolly]

thai's have to understand curry originated from India

My understanding is that it was originated by the British to preserve the food in India.

[spidermike007]

Yes, but the bottom line is, that India has accomplished so much more than Thailand. How many Thais have won a noble peace prize, a Pulitzer, and Peabody, a gold medal, an Oscar, a golden globe award, or any other award that measures exceptional intelligence and talent? Indians win them nearly every other day! India is a nation of tremendous intelligence, creativity, culture, education, literary genius, scientific genius, etc, etc, etc. so, for Thais to even suggest the playing field is not level, and that Indians are in any way, shape or form not equal to them, is not only denying reality, but in fact, may be just the opposite of reality? So let's get real. Is there any chance skin color is a factor here?

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rametindallas]

Yes, but the bottom line is, that India has accomplished so much more than Thailand. How many Thais have won a noble peace prize, a Pulitzer, and Peabody, a gold medal, an Oscar, a golden globe award, or any other award that measures exceptional intelligence and talent? Indians win them nearly every other day! India is a nation of tremendous intelligence, creativity, culture, education, literary genius, scientific genius, etc, etc, etc. so, for Thais to even suggest the playing field is not level, and that Indians are in any way, shape or form not equal to them, is not only denying reality, but in fact, may be just the opposite of reality? So let's get real. Is there any chance skin color is a factor here?

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Almost every Thai I know is not ashamed to talk about how they dislike Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis. It seems mostly, on the face of it, to do with hygiene, body odor and that they are cheapskates. There may be undercurrents of envy but they would never admit to that. Here in Dallas, Indians are the leading hoteliers and restaurateurs and are generally held in high regard for their intellect and industry.

[spidermike007]

Yes, but the bottom line is, that India has accomplished so much more than Thailand. How many Thais have won a noble peace prize, a Pulitzer, and Peabody, a gold medal, an Oscar, a golden globe award, or any other award that measures exceptional intelligence and talent? Indians win them nearly every other day! India is a nation of tremendous intelligence, creativity, culture, education, literary genius, scientific genius, etc, etc, etc. so, for Thais to even suggest the playing field is not level, and that Indians are in any way, shape or form not equal to them, is not only denying reality, but in fact, may be just the opposite of reality? So let's get real. Is there any chance skin color is a factor here?

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Almost every Thai I know is not ashamed to talk about how they dislike Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis. It seems mostly, on the face of it, to do with hygiene, body odor and that they are cheapskates. There may be undercurrents of envy but they would never admit to that. Here in Dallas, Indians are the leading hoteliers and restaurateurs and are generally held in high regard for their intellect and industry.

Not to mention the genetic brain stock. Indians are simply blessed with superior intellect. Let us not forget they were the worlds most powerful nation for nearly 2,000 years, dating from centuries before Christ, to the time the Chinese took over that mantle in the 16th century. Even during the Roman empire, India was always wealthier. The fact that Britain drained them of their wealth over the course of two centuries, seems to get lost with revisionist history.

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[waza]

thai's have to understand curry originated from India

So did Siddhārtha Gautama.

so did buddha

[waza]

thai's have to understand curry originated from India

My understanding is that it was originated by the British to preserve the food in India.

Most of the more pungent spices were used to mask the taste of turning meat

[Publicus]

India is interested in Dawei yet they are already working on another port in Burma

Essar is currently engaging in various projects to develop the seaport in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state

Ok so Dawei could be a direct link with Thailand and India but is it that important to them that they would be willing to put up the amount of money needed now that Japan and the US have gone elsewhere?

The CCP-PRC aren't in love with the idea either. Beijing is busy with many things, including a new Panama Canal through Nicaragua for $40 billion and you know there'll be cost overruns not to mention additional corruption.

Dawei is just another of Thaksin's grandiose schemes for a country that is full of grandiose thinking and attitudes but for no good reason or justification.

That port will never be built. Thais fall on their face again.

[MaxLee]

"Dear people of India, do you want to buy our rice????"

[waza]

"Dear people of India, do you want to buy our rice????"

The lifting of the rice export ban by India upset Thaksins scheme to take over the world rice trade market, he will need them on side if he is ever to rescue any money from that debacle.