Woo other superpowers, experts urge

Thailand should look at courting other superpowers no matter the result of the United States presidential election in November, academics say.

As the presidential race between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump hots up, international relations academics have urged the government to start looking beyond Thailand’s traditional ally and cooperate more with other powerful countries.

“Thailand needs to diversify its ties with other superpowers such as China, India and Russia. We should not rely politically and economically on the US alone,” said Viboonpong Poonprasit, a lecturer at Thammasart University’s Political Science Faculty.

He was speaking yesterday at a seminar titled: “Perspective on the US Presidential Election 2016”, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of American and South Pacific Affairs.

Even though a Clinton victory appears more appealing to Asian countries, she is likely to focus more on human rights issues which still remain a huge challenge for this region, the seminar was told.

“If Clinton becomes president, she will be a bit more serious than Trump on matters involving human rights, human trafficking and forced labour which could affect Thailand’s exports to the US, while these issues do not seem to worry her Republican opponent,” Mr Viboonpong told the gathering.

“Whether we like America or not, we need to be prepared because this election will affect us,” Mr Viboonpong said.

At the same time, Mr Trump’s overconfident and aggressive character could stir further tensions with China over the South China Sea if he gets the top job, he said.

“The US will not let China increase its power in this region and if Trump lives up to these traits, the situation could get worse,” he warned.

Addressing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Chaichana Ingkawat, a political science lecturer at Ramkhamhaeng University suggested Thailand wait and see what the new US president does since Ms Clinton — a one-time advocate for the partnership — has grown less enthusiastic about it.

“We shouldn’t be too hasty to join the pact without waiting to see what the next president does about it,” he said.