Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Bangkok wants ties with Washington and Beijing as Southeast Asian leaders prepare to meet in Manila Nov. 14-17 amid U.S.-China competition.
In a Bangkok interview published by Euronews on Nov. 12, Sihasak described the rules-based international order as breaking down and called for multilateral cooperation as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) prepared for its Manila meetings. “We need to restore multilateralism, because nobody can go it alone,” he said. Sihasak asked Thailand’s friends not to force the country to take sides, pointing to Chinese investment in electric vehicles and the U.S. role in regional security, Euronews reported.
CNA published a separate interview on Nov. 10, after speaking with Sihasak on Nov. 5. He said ASEAN should act according to its own interests amid major-power competition and engage partners including India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the European Union to protect the bloc’s strategic autonomy, CNA reported.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said Sihasak’s Nov. 5 keynote at the 41st ASEAN Roundtable in Singapore identified three priorities: regionalism, resilience and relevance. He called for deeper economic integration and a stronger role for the ASEAN chair in convening urgent consultations and addressing emerging crises, the ministry said.
During a Nov. 12 visit to Myanmar, Sihasak backed the country’s constructive engagement with ASEAN and urged steps to reduce violence and expand humanitarian access, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said. The ministry said border violence had affected Thailand, trade obstacles had impeded Thai exports and businesses, and pollution in border rivers had affected communities in both countries. CNA reported Myanmar’s military government has been excluded from ASEAN’s top-level gatherings since 2021 after the coup and failure to implement the Five-Point Consensus.
The ASEAN Secretariat scheduled the 49th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Manila for Nov. 14-17. Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said Sihasak would attend ministers’ meetings Nov. 14 and join the prime minister’s delegation Nov. 15-17. The ministry said the agenda includes the Extended Informal Consultation on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. It also said the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement is expected to be signed and could raise the value of ASEAN’s digital economy to $2 trillion.
