“The rules-based international order is breaking down,” Thailand’s Foreign Minister warns

Name: “The rules-based international order is breaking down,” Thailand’s Foreign Minister warns
Uploaded: 2026-11-12T17:30:15+00:00
Duration: 17 min 55 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

00:07Hello, I'm Jane Witherspoon and welcome to the World Conversation. In this episode,

00:13we're joined by Sihasa Puan Ked Kiao, the Deputy Prime Minister for Thailand and Minister

00:18of Foreign Affairs. Tan Sihasa, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:23Thailand has spent decades positioning itself as a country that can talk to everybody,

00:30but the world is becoming increasingly fragmented, more divided. Can Thailand really

00:38remain friends with everyone or are there some hard choices to make now?

00:44Oh, definitely. You know, we like to be friends with everyone. And of course, as you said,

00:53under the present circumstances, where we see more geopolitical competition,

01:01geo-economic, geo-technology competition, it's not that easy. And of course, the main contestation

01:09is between the two superpowers, whom are both friends of Thailand.

01:16Yes. Well, we don't take side. And we ask our friends also not to force us to take side. But

01:29sometimes the message is clear, right? But not taking side does not mean being neutral.

01:41Okay. Because sometimes neutrality does not serve your interests. So we do have to take

01:49side on issues from time to time. That's unavoidable.

01:54You've mentioned that the superpowers. So we're talking China and the US, who are great allies

01:59for Thailand. How do you balance that relationship, though? You say you make it about the issues,

02:04not the countries. Well, the best way of balancing is to, you know, we have to consider what is in

02:15our

02:16interests, you know, and what are the principles that we stand for, and what we consider to be what is

02:26right. Yes. And if there are, when times come, that you have to make a decision, we do have to

02:34make a

02:34decision. And maybe it goes one way, and the other party might not like it. But we hope that, you

02:44know,

02:44that they will respect us for having made that decision, rather than, you know, sitting on the wall,

02:51sitting on the fence.

02:51China is Thailand's biggest trading partner. How can that come into play, that diplomacy,

02:58when it is affecting your economics of the country?

03:01Well, both, if you were talking about China and the United States, both are important to Thailand.

03:10China is a major economic partner. It's our biggest trading partner. Investment from China is growing,

03:20especially in electric vehicles, as you know. The United States also has a lot of investment in

03:28Thailand, you know, and at the same time, the United States is important in terms of the security role

03:39that it plays in maintaining the balance of power. Yes.

03:41So, so, you know, we, for both countries, both countries are important partners of Thailand. But

03:50I think the best way to maintain a balance is to have, first, maintain strategic autonomy as much as we

04:00can. Yes.

04:01Second, have the freedom of choices. That means, you know, it's not one or the other. We have other

04:09major powers who have interest in the region. India, rising power. Japan, still an economic

04:17powerhouse. Korea, you know, coming up economically. And Australia, which also has strong interest

04:26in the region. So, sometimes balancing doesn't mean balancing between the two, right? And we're

04:34trying to engage constructively with all the two superpowers and also the other major powers who's,

04:41who, who also play a vital role in the region.

04:45You have described ASEAN, which is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as being at the heart of

04:53your country's foreign policy. But the region is facing pressure from the US and China rivalry.

04:59There's the situation in Myanmar, tensions between its own members. Do you think ASEAN is strong enough

05:06to shape events as opposed to being reactive to them here?

05:10Well, you know, I've been in the foreign industry for 40 years. I've seen, you know, how important ASEAN

05:19is to all the member states. We were able to overcome many critical periods in the past because we had

05:27ASEAN during the Cold War, during the conflict in Cambodia, right? So all of us recognize that

05:35we're in this together, right? Yes. Right? Maybe during the good days, you know, when the situation

05:42is not like now, we forgot about that a little bit, right? But I think we realize that now that

05:50we're

05:50confronted with many challenges, we have to really pull our strength. And, and, you know, the concept of

06:01ASEAN centrality is still there. But maybe we have to take it further and enhance that concept. Meaning

06:09that we have to raise the level of our regionalism. That's important because if we simply think about

06:15our national interests, it's going to be difficult for us to pull our weight, right? Second, we must be

06:21resilient. Resilient in terms of making sure that we, you know, we can react to situations quickly.

06:29Yes. You know, we still have this principle, consensus takes time, but we have to

06:33do things more quickly. Second, being resilient these days is economically, it's also important.

06:41We are a market of 700 million people. We are integrating, but we're not in, we have not

06:46integrated enough. You mentioned Cambodia there. What is the situation and how are relations at the

06:52moment? Well, you know, we want to get beyond the conflict between our two countries.

06:59And, you know, two countries living side by side. We need to live together. Yes.

07:06But live together in a basis of mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual confidence. Yes.

07:13And that is the basis for us to develop our relations. And certainly we cannot do it on our part.

07:20Mm-hmm. We want to, we hope that the Cambodian would, you know, join us in this effort.

07:27We want to rebuild our relations. But rebuilding also means that we have to, you know, put a stop to

07:35some of the, what we see as acts of provocation. Yeah.

07:40Especially in the international forums where, you know, Thailand seems to be targeted all the time

07:47on matters that are not related to the issues that we are dealing with. So we are, you know,

07:55ready. And anytime that the Cambodian side is ready, I'm sure we can take our relationship forward.

08:01You and the Prime Minister have advocated calibrated re-engagement,

08:07gradually re-integrating Myanmar into ASEAN dialogue. Some critics would argue that engaging with Myanmar's

08:17authorities risks legitimizing them. Why do you believe that engagement is the best strategy for Thailand?

08:27Well, those critics, it's easy to criticize when you're not the neighboring country of Myanmar.

08:35For us, it's not an academic exercise. You know, we deal with the situation in Myanmar every day for the

08:42past five years

08:43along our border, right? And they've had election, not a perfect election, but we believe that they must continue

08:51with the peace process and continue having talks with the opposition ethnic group. So opposition is clear that

09:00under this policy of recalibrated engagement, re-engagement, that means we want to bring Myanmar back to ASEAN.

09:07But it takes, it has to be a step-by-step effort, and they have to respond positively to our

09:14concern as well.

09:16But a Myanmar that is isolated from ASEAN is also not good in terms of geopolitics.

09:23Right. And our approach is, first, definitely, you know, any neighboring country, you have to deal with

09:30the border issues, border trade, border security, scam operations, drugs, pollution in the waters,

09:40in the sky. We have to talk with the government in Nepal. But the other track, that means the situation,

09:48we have not abandoned our hope that they will move forward. And we have, you know, conveyed these

09:55messages all along. But in the end, it's up to them. It's up to them to make things work. It's

10:05up to them

10:05to move forward with peace, you know, with dialogue. So ultimately, it has to be a Myanmar-led,

10:12it made my own process inside the country. We've talked about neighboring countries and the region

10:19here. But looking further afield, how are you engaging more actively with partners in the EU,

10:28the UK, Australia, you know, further afield as Canada? You know, we live in a world where we see

10:35the rules-based international order breaking down, the multilateral trading system on which we depended

10:43so much also breaking down, or not working. And it's not just us looking at these partners,

10:52it's these partners looking at us as well. The Indo-Pacific is probably where we see much of the

10:59opportunities in trade investment. And ASEAN is one of the pillars of the Indo-Pacific. And so I think

11:07there's a strong degree of mutual desire on both on the part of these countries and on the part of

11:14Thailand and ASEAN to enhance our relations. How can Thailand make sure that it attracts investment

11:22from, you know, around the world so that you're not dependent on just one market?

11:27ASEAN Well, first of all, as I mentioned, we're in a region that is very dynamic economically.

11:34I've seen 700 million people. But we're not, you know, we recognize that it's up to us as well

11:43to make ourselves attractive for investment. I have to accept that the past few years, I think we,

11:51because of, you know, our politics had not settled down, we could not push through some of the reforms

11:57that are needed. Now, you know, we're doing a lot of restructuring, reform of the economy, deregulation,

12:04and also we're moving towards the new industries. I think one important consideration that those who

12:10are coming to invest, they think of, of course, the region, the market, and now it's clean energy.

12:18ASEAN Yes.

12:19ASEAN Everybody talks about clean energy, the new industry, because they want. And so Thailand,

12:24you know, we're very much engaged in trying to develop our sources of clean energy, not just with

12:31Thailand. You know, we were working with Laos on hydropower. And also, my prime minister was in

12:39Singapore recently. We talked about another clean energy hub involved in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

12:45So we're trying to also make ourselves attractive to foreign investors.

12:51ASEAN We're seeing a lot of supply chains becoming increasingly reorganized around the world.

12:58Is Thailand ready to adjust to those as they change?

13:02ASEAN Definitely. I think everybody talks about supply chains these days are not about cost.

13:08It's about resilience.

13:10ASEAN Yes.

13:11ASEAN Resilience against all kinds of risks.

13:13ASEAN I know one thing. In my recent discussion with leaders of government, leaders of the private

13:22sector, they're looking at the region and looking at Thailand, because in addition to our economic

13:31potential, we're also considered to be a place where we're a strict geopolitically safe zone right now.

13:40ASEAN And that's why it's essential for us to maintain peace and stability in the region.

13:48ASEAN I'm sure that many supply chains, this is uppermost in their consideration when they think about realignment.

13:57ASEAN With household debt sitting at 60% GDP, an aging and also rapidly shrinking workforce,

14:06how does Thailand move forwards and seize this moment to forge a path with economic certainty?

14:13ASEAN Well, every country has its challenges and these are Thailand's challenges.

14:19ASEAN How do we approach with, you know, we approach it with a sense of can-do attitude.

14:26ASEAN I think we can resolve some of these challenges because, you know, right now we've been given

14:34an upgrade by all the rating agencies.

14:37ASEAN Yes.

14:38ASEAN So we're handling our macro economic situation.

14:41ASEAN And we're mindful that, you know, we need to do some of the stimulus measures.

14:47ASEAN The impact from the Middle East crisis is still with us.

14:51ASEAN But at the same time, we're mindful that we cannot go beyond a certain ceiling.

14:56ASEAN And secondly, we have to try to rely on domestic sources of borrowing as much as possible.

15:05ASEAN And the other, we're an aging society.

15:11ASEAN We have to ensure that those who are the retirees are not retiring.

15:18ASEAN They still have means to earn a living.

15:21ASEAN We have programs so that they can upskill or reskill.

15:26ASEAN And also for the young people, you know, it's also essential that they also develop the skills

15:31that are needed in this age of digital economy, AI.

15:36ASEAN What would you like Thailand's global role to look like in five to ten years from now?

15:44ASEAN Well, Thailand, I think everybody considers Thailand a nice friendly country.

15:50ASEAN We still want to be that nice friendly country, welcoming to foreign visitors, you know,

15:58having all these attractions, Thai food.

16:02ASEAN But at the same time, we cannot be sitting still.

16:06ASEAN We have to modernize, we have to make sure that our economy remains dynamic.

16:14ASEAN And that requires a lot of reform and restructuring.

16:16ASEAN We want to be seen as not just a nice country, but also a dynamic country.

16:23ASEAN But most importantly, we want to be seen as a responsible country.

16:27ASEAN That means not just thinking of ourselves, thinking of the world, thinking of the international community,

16:36how we can contribute to making the world peaceful, better and safer place.

16:41ASEAN We talk about global communities and governments coming together.

16:46ASEAN You know, what do you think is the first priority which people need to address to make the world

16:53a better place?

16:54ASEAN First, let's get the rule-based international system back on track.

16:59ASEAN We need international cooperation because we face so many challenges, you know, nobody can go it alone.

17:06ASEAN That's the first thing, to restore multilateralism.

17:10ASEAN Second, of course, there are immediate challenges like climate change.

17:15ASEAN We don't know what is the next black swan, when another pandemic will happen.

17:22ASEAN But our main concern right now is the threats coming from cyberspace.

17:29ASEAN Yes.

17:30ASEAN You know, and these are transnational crime of all sorts.

17:34ASEAN But our main concern right now is the threat of online scams.

17:40ASEAN And this region is, we have to admit, is the center.

17:44ASEAN Thank you so much for joining us on the World Conversation on Euronews today.

17:47ASEAN What a pleasure to meet you.

17:48ASEAN Thank you very much.

17:49ASEAN Thank you.

“The rules-based international order is breaking down,” Thailand’s Foreign Minister warns

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