Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, vowed to deepen cooperation with China to tackle the cyber scam centers that have troubled both countries, and she signed more than a dozen agreements to elevate bilateral economic ties between the two nations at the conclusion of her visit to China on Saturday.
Some analysts say the Thai prime minister’s four-day visit shows that Thailand is managing its relationship with China “quite well.”
“The trip signaled that Thailand is willing to cooperate proactively on a number of fronts that will benefit Thailand economically and enhance Thailand’s ability to protect its security interests in neighboring Myanmar,” said Hunter Marston, a research fellow at La Trobe University in Australia.
Ahead of her first official visit to China since taking power last August, Paetongtarn said she hoped to demonstrate Thailand’s commitment to crack down on illegal cyber scam centers operating in areas near the Thai-Myanmar-Chinese border.
On Tuesday, Thai authorities announced they would suspend electricity to some border areas close to Myanmar, as the government intensified efforts to target cyberscam operations.
Additionally, the Thai leader was seeking Beijing’s help to boost Chinese tourist confidence in traveling to Thailand. The abduction of Chinese television actor Wang Xing from the Southeast Asian country to a scam center in neighboring Myanmar has sparked widespread concern among Chinese tourists about the risks of traveling to Thailand.
During a bilateral meeting with Paetongtarn in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Thailand’s “efforts and effective measures” to combat online gambling and telecom fraud, and said both countries should “strengthen law enforcement, security and judicial cooperation to safeguard the safety of people’s lives and property.”
Apart from promising to “take resolute and effective measures” to combat cyber scam operations, the Thai prime minister also said she takes Chinese citizens’ safety in her country “seriously.”
“I personally looked into all the securities myself, I talked to the police, I talked to the military and everybody who is involved” … “to be able to take care of everybody that wants to come to Thailand,” Paetongtarn said during an interview this week with China’s state-run China Daily.
Experts say that while the willingness by China and Thailand to strengthen law enforcement cooperation could help push cyber scam centers farther away from the border region, it’s unlikely to entirely root out illegal operations.
The cyber scam operations “will find some other place where they can slip to unless the Thais and the Chinese are willing to do significant cross-border operations into Myanmar,” said Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.
Paul Chambers, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at Naresuan University in Thailand, told VOA that one potential risk of increasing law enforcement cooperation between Beijing and Bangkok is that there could be “a much heightened and unaccountable Chinese police presence in Thailand.”
And since the United States Agency for International Development used to be a “major funder” of counter-human trafficking efforts in Thailand, Chong said the Trump administration’s decision to freeze foreign aid could complicate Beijing and Bangkok’s efforts to crack down on the cyber scam gangs.
“What the meeting between Xi and the Thai prime minister didn’t talk about is who will provide the money to continue those programs,” he told VOA by phone.
Deepening economic ties
Apart from strengthening joint efforts to combat cyber scams, Thailand and China also are looking to deepen bilateral economic cooperation in areas like infrastructure, digital economy, and electric vehicles.
One key project is the 609-kilometer-long high-speed railroad connecting Thailand with southern China through neighboring Laos, which Bangkok hopes to finish building by 2030.
Chinese President Xi said he hoped both countries would “promote the vision of interconnected development of China, Laos, and Thailand to achieve more fruitful outcomes as soon as possible”.
Additionally, Thailand and China signed 14 agreements related to cooperation in artificial intelligence, green development, and fish product exports during Paetongtarn’s meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Marston said, while China says the high-speed railway could help enhance their connectivity with regional countries, Thailand hopes to further develop key industries through deepened economic cooperation with Beijing.
Bangkok hopes “the relocation of Chinese manufacturing to Thailand could help them develop their own semiconductor and electric vehicle manufacturing capacity,” Marston told VOA by phone.
Other analysts warn, however, that Thailand’s enhanced cooperation with China over electric vehicles could adversely affect other countries’ automobile manufacturing in Thailand.
“What may be good for China in the EV market may not necessarily be good for other countries, such as Japan, that have traditionally made automobiles and have supplied a lot of middle-class jobs in Thailand,” Mark Cogan, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan, told VOA in a video interview via Zoom.
As the United States threatens to impose tariffs against products from several countries, including longstanding allies like Canada, and vows to boycott global summits like the G20, Marston said China sees a window of opportunity to further relations with neighboring countries like Thailand.
“China will be making every effort to deepen relations with Southeast Asian countries and impress upon them the perception that the U.S. is not reliable,” he told VOA.
Marston said while Thailand is trying to expand engagement with China, it also isn’t distancing itself from the U.S., which has long been Bangkok’s key security partner.
“Thailand is well positioned to continue its bamboo diplomacy, and we will likely see it maintain positive relations with both China and the U.S. in the years ahead,” he said.