- Bangkok Post 25/08/2011
Before looking ahead to the future, I think I will be telling a big lie if I do not accept from the outset that I have been somewhat disappointed with Thailand's foreign policy of late. I saw no justifiable reason for our relationship with one of our Asean next door neighbours, Cambodia, to deteriorate from bad to worse and from worse to hitting rock bottom. This relationship kept plummeting without any real and serious attempt at salvation.
Cambodian vendors pass through a border gate at Chong Jom pass in Kap Choeng district of Surin on July 26, to do business in Thailand. Border trade is active once again, as locals grow confident of peace despite delays in establishing the demilitarised zone near the Preah Vihear Temple as ordered by the International Court of Justice.I do not think that is the way we deal with our Asean neighbours.
I often like comparing the formulation of foreign policy with the shape of the rings of a dart board where Thailand is placed at the bull's eye. The nearer the ring to the bull's eye, the more important as well as the more delicate and difficult it is to score. The clear difference, however, is that these rings, unlike those on a real dart board, must be drawn to overlap each other. These rings will never be so clearly separate, for foreign policy is not a case of a separate and unrelated relationship. How to manage the overlapping of these rings is as important as how to manage the relationship within each ring itself.
These are rings of our foreign policy. The closest of the rings represents our immediate neighbours with common borders. All of them are not just neighbours with shared common boundaries but we are all Asean members with shared common values and visions. Our closest proximity must be considered in every aspect: physical, political, economic, social, cultural or even environmental.
Because this ring is the closest to the bull's eye, it must be aimed at with greatest attention. Once hit accurately, it will be handsomely scored. But once missed, it could be a big opportunity lost. And the conduct of our foreign policy in the past decade or so has seen this both well scored and badly missed.
I do hope that for the next decade we will pursue just the right policy towards these neighbours of ours and keep producing excellent scores.
Yes, countries with thousands of miles of common border must have problems. But the key is there must be bilateral mechanisms to resolve them and each mechanism must be functioning at all times for conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of disputes. Territorial dispute as a result of historic colonial powers influencing the delimitation must be handled with care and understanding. Boundary delimitation must be depoliticised, leaving it to technical experts of maps and international law to argue at the table in a smoke-filled room, never allow public nationalistic emotion to get involved which would lead to the battlefield. Cooperation on joint development of national resources and cultural assets in areas where there are overlapping claims should be explored, designed and implemented, with agreement that such cooperation will have no prejudice on each side's legal claims. Trust and mutual respect is, therefore, key to producing excellent scores in policy with neighbours.
Apart from our bilateral ties which must be kept real warm at all times, our cooperation with them also comes in different dimensions. Existing strategic multilateral ties must continue to be enhanced while new initiatives established. The existing ACMECS _ Ayawadee, Chaophraya, Mekong, Economic Cooperation Strategy _ must be strengthened to its utmost extent. This cooperation among Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam is the only economic cooperation strategy in the Mekong sub-region that comprises exclusively Asean members.
The Mekong sub-region, where Thailand and our neighbours are situated, is economically highly strategic for Southeast Asia. Being shared by five riparian Asean countries and China, the Mekong River and its region has attracted a number of economic cooperation projects. Apart from the GMS _ the Greater Mekong Sub-region _ which is the cooperation between all the six riparian states, namely, China and all five Asean members, some non-Mekong states have also expressed their keen interest in this sub-region. Japan has set up the Japan-Mekong Cooperation, whose membership is all of the GMS minus China, but plus Japan's membership. The United States, similarly, also wants to be a Mekong State too.
Thailand's foreign policy must, therefore contain the Mekong strategy as part of our policy towards our immediate neighbours. The foreign policy regarding this innermost ring to the bull's eye must not merely receive the highest priority, it must be strategically well-thought-out since we have more players than just our neighbours. The power balancing of Thailand and four Asean Mekong riparian states, vis-a-vis China and other non-mainland Southeast Asian powers must be well handled.
Moving outward to the next ring is that of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This regional grouping is moving towards fully-fledged regional integration with the establishment of the Asean Community in 2015, with three major pillars: the Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community, and Political and Security Community. The success of Asean is the success of Thailand. We must draw a masterplan to be implemented by all sectors, both government and non-government, leading to the 2015 objectives. We must be able to deliver to all our Asean citizens the benefits they should gain from the establishment of the Asean Community that must be felt in the conduct of their everyday life.
Accordingly, regarding the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand surrounding the issue of the Temple of Preah Vihear, both countries must cooperate more with Asean on peace and conflict resolution, otherwise confidence in Asean's mechanism for conflict avoidance and resolution will be greatly affected and eroded. Although the nature of conflict between Thailand and Cambodia is bilateral, the path to solution has been multilateral, that is Asean and beyond. My final observation on this issue is that perhaps Thailand should draft up her multilateral strategy in handling this conflict in the United Nations Security Council, Asean, World Heritage Committee and the International Court of Justice.
Because Asean is widely recognised as a strong regional grouping, it has generated several trans-regional cooperation initiatives where Asean is placed in the driving seat. Geography is no longer relevant when we come to a willingness to cooperate. The East Asia Summit or Asean +6 countries is no longer strictly East Asian, as it has incorporated a number of countries that are hardly East Asian such as India, Australia, New Zealand and newcomers the US and Russia.
Thailand must take a more proactive role not only in the realisation and implementation of the Asean Community but also in making Asean a political and economic strategic focus of the world throughout the next decade.
We strongly need a truly outward-looking policy. We must understand and build a strategic partnership with our Asian friends, not only just China and India. Thailand can be a strategic linkage between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
China's interest in Thailand and Asean is tremendous. In turn, it is important for us to fully understand China's regional development policy. In addition to the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement, this regional policy of China will create trade and economic partnership with different parts of Southeast Asia. Our cordial, close, warm, understanding and special relationship with China must always be maintained. I am sorry to notice that the past two or three years may have seen this relationship waning a little. It is time Thailand rectified and fully restored that.
The "Look East" policy of India and of increasing numbers of West Asian countries should be met with a carefully crafted "Look West" policy of Thailand, in order to benefit its economic growth and sustainability, and to enhance this country's proactive and balanced role in Asia in the next decade.
Japan and South Korea have been our long-term traditional allies and there is every reason to believe they will always remain so. At the same time, Central Asia has gained a much more distinguished prominence on the global radar. Emphasis should also be made on closer relations with many African countries, as they are Thailand's export markets, especially for agricultural and small- and medium-enterprise products.
The rise of Asia has been, to a large extent, due to the significant fast growth of countries in the region. Therefore, the need to manage our wealth and capital as a result of such growth in order to maintain our sustainability and stability is equally important. Thailand once played a key role in the Chiang Mai Initiative which later evolved into the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation in 2009.
By the same token, it was Thailand who initiated the first Asian continent-wide cooperation under the name Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) with strong, wholehearted support of Asean and a number of major Asian countries. It incorporates almost all Asian countries as its members. Again, it is a pity that in the past 2-3 years, Thailand's foreign policy has trivialised these efforts. These were the efforts on which we strongly hoped to help build the future of Asia, especially in the case of ACD, which would lead to our hope of an Asian Community. The rise of Asia must be accompanied by a strong pan-Asian cooperation to help maintain common Asian purposes and to ensure that Asia as a continent, despite its huge diversity, will grow together.
All in all, the essence of our foreign policy is that Thailand cannot afford to have itself faded out of the world radar screen when things are moving so fast on all fronts. The world of interdependence is all round in every aspect. The world stage of diplomacy is clearly moving from boundary security to trade, commercial, financial and, most importantly, human security. Thai foreign policy must fully reflect this reality. If we have not done so, it is high time we did.
Surakiart Sathirathai is a former foreign minister. He is at present President of the Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs Foundation. The above article is an edited version of a speech he delivered at the international conference on "Asia in the Next Decade", which was held in Bangkok yesterday.
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