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Thaiföld külügyminisztere szerint szétesik a szabályalapú nemzetközi rend, multilateralizmust sürget

Thaiföld egy „geopolitikailag biztonságos övezet” „egy olyan világban, ahol a szabályokon alapuló nemzetközi rend szétesni látszik” – közölte Thaiföld miniszterelnök-helyettese és külügyminisztere egy átfogó Euronews-interjúban Bangkokban.

BŐVEBBEN : http://hu.euronews.com/2026/11/12/thaifold-kulugyminisztere-szerint-szetesik-a-szabalyalapu-nemzetkozi-rend-multilateralizmu

Iratkozzon fel: Az Euronews elérhető 12 nyelven

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Transcript
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 remain
00:38friends with everyone or are there some hard choices to make now?
00:43Well, definitely, you know, we like to be friends with everyone. And of course, as you said,
00:52under the present circumstances, where we see more geopolitical competition,
01:01geo-economic, geo-technology competition, it's not that easy, you know. And of course,
01:08the main contestation is 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.
01:42Because sometimes neutrality does not serve your interest. So we do have to take sides on issues
01:51from time to time. That's unavoidable.
01:54You 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,
02:05not the countries.
02:06Mm-hmm. Well, the best way of balancing is to, you know, we have to consider what is in our
02:16interests,
02:17you know, and what are the principles that we stand for, and what we consider to be what is right.
02:26Yes. And when times come that you have to make a decision, we do have to make a decision. And
02:36maybe
02:36it goes one way, and the other party might not like it. But we hope that, you know, that they
02:45will
02:45respect us for having made that decision, rather than, you know, sitting on the wall, sitting on the
02:51fence.
02:52China 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 we 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
03:28in Thailand, you know, and at the same time, the United States is important in terms of the
03:38security role that it plays in maintaining the balance of power. Yes.
03:41So, you know, for both countries, both countries are important partners of Thailand. But I think the
03:51best way to maintain a balance is to have, first, maintain strategic autonomy as much as we can.
04:00Yes.
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 is still an economic
04:17powerhouse. Korea, you know, coming up economically. And Australia, which also has strong interest
04:27in the region. So, sometimes balancing doesn't mean balancing between the two.
04:32Right. And we are trying to engage constructively with all the two superpowers and also the other
04:39major powers who also play a vital role in the region.
04:45You have described ASEAN, which is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
04:51as being at the heart of your country's foreign policy. But the region is facing pressure from
04:58the US and China rivalry. There's the situation in Myanmar, tensions between its own members. Do you
05:04think ASEAN is strong enough to 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
05:18ASEAN is to all the member states. We were able to overcome many critical periods in the past because
05:26we had ASEAN during the Cold War, during the conflict in Cambodia, right? So all of us recognize that
05:35we're in this together. Yes. Right? Maybe during the good days, you know, when the situation is not like
05:43now, we forgot about that a little bit, right? But I think we realize that now that we're confronted with
05:52many challenges, we have to really pull our strength. And, you know, the concept of ASEAN centrality
06:02is still there. But maybe we have to take it further and enhance that concept, meaning that we have to
06:10raise the level of our regionalism. That's important, because if we simply think about our national interest,
06:16it's going to be difficult for us to pull our weight, right? Second, we must be resilient. Resilient in terms
06:23of
06:24making sure that we, you know, we can react to situations quickly. Yes. You know, we still have this
06:30principle consensus takes time, but we have to do things more quickly. Second, being resilient
06:36these days is economically, it's also important. We are a market of 700 million people. We are integrating,
06:45but we're not in, we have not integrated enough. You mentioned Cambodia there. What is the situation and
06:51how are relations at the moment? Well, you know, we want to get beyond the conflict between our two
06:58countries. And, you know, two countries living side by side, we need to live together. Yes. But live
07:06together in a basis of mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual confidence. Yes. And that is the basis for
07:15us to develop our relations. And certainly we cannot do it on our part. We want to, we hope that
07:23the
07:24Cambodian would, you know, join us in this effort. We want to rebuild our relations. But rebuilding also
07:32means that we have to, you know, put a stop to some of the, what we see as acts of
07:38provocation,
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, 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, gradually reintegrating
08:10Myanmar into ASEAN dialogue. Some critics would argue that engaging with Myanmar's authorities
08:18risks 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
08:41for the past five years along our border, right? And they've had election, not a perfect election,
08:48but we believe that they must continue with the peace process and continue having talks with
08:56the opposition ethnic group. So our position is clear that under this policy of re-calibrated
09:02engagement, 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, right?
09:23And 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 neighborhood. But the other track, that means the
09:47situation, we have not abandoned our hope that they will move forward. And we have, you know, conveyed
09:54these messages all along. But in the end, it's up to them. It's up to them to make things work.
10:04It's up for them to move forward with peace, you know, with dialogue. So ultimately,
10:09it has to be a Myanmar-led, Myanmar-owned process inside the country.
10:16We've talked about neighboring countries and the region here, but looking further afield,
10:22how are you engaging more actively with partners in the EU, the UK, Australia, you know, further
10:31afield as Canada?
10:32You know, we live in a world where we see the rules-based international order breaking down.
10:39The multilateral trading system, on which we depended so much, also breaking down,
10:46or not working. And it's not just us looking at these partners. It's these partners looking at us
10:54as well. The Indo-Pacific is probably where we see much of the opportunities in trade investment.
11:01And ASEAN is one of the pillars of the Indo-Pacific. And so I think there's a strong degree of
11:10mutual
11:10desire on both on the part of these countries and on the part of Thailand and ASEAN to enhance our
11:16relations. How can Thailand make sure that it attracts investment from, you know, around the world,
11:25so that you're not dependent on just one market? Well, first of all, as I mentioned, we're in a
11:30region that is very dynamic economically. I see 700 million people. But we're not, you know,
11:40we recognize that it's up to us as well to make ourselves attractive for investment. I have to
11:47accept that the past few years, I think we, because of, you know, our politics had not settled down,
11:54we could not push through some of the reforms that are needed. Now, you know, we're doing a lot of
12:01restructuring, reform of the economy, deregulation, and also we're moving towards the new industries.
12:07I think one important consideration that those who are coming to invest, they think of, of course,
12:13the region, the market, and now it's clean energy. Yes. Everybody talks about clean energy,
12:21the new industry, because they want, and so Thailand, you know, we're very much engaged in trying to
12:27develop our sources of clean energy, not just with Thailand, you know, we're working with Laos on
12:34hydro power. And also, my prime minister was in Singapore recently, we talked about another clean
12:42energy hub involved in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. So we're trying to also make ourselves
12:47attractive to foreign investors. We're seeing a lot of supply chains becoming increasingly reorganized
12:57around the world. Is Thailand ready to adjust to those as they change? Definitely. I think everybody
13:04talks about supply chains these days are not about cost. It's about resilience. Yes. Resilience against
13:12all kinds of risks. And I know one thing, and in my recent discussion with leaders of government,
13:20leaders of the private sector, they're looking at the region, and looking at Thailand, because in addition
13:29to our economic potential, we're also considered to be a place where it's, we're a strict geopolitically
13:38safe zone right now. Yes. And that's why it's essential for us to maintain peace and stability in the region.
13:47And, you know, and I'm sure that many supply chains, this is uppermost in their consideration when they
13:55think about realignment. With household debts sitting at 60% GDP, an aging and also rapidly shrinking
14:04workforce, how does Thailand move forwards and seize this moment to forge a path with economic certainty?
14:13Well, every country has its challenges, and these are Thailand's challenges. How do we approach
14:21with, you know, we approach it with a sense of can-do attitude. I think we can resolve some of
14:29these
14:29challenges because, you know, right now we've been given upgrade by all the rating agencies. Yes.
14:38So we're handling our macroeconomic situation. And we're mindful that, you know, we need to do some
14:46of the stimulus measures. The impact from the Middle East crisis is still with us. But at the same time,
14:52we're mindful that we cannot go beyond a certain ceiling. And secondly, we have to try to rely on
15:05that we have to ensure that those who are the retirees are not retiring. They still have means to earn
15:20a living.
15:20You know, we have programs so that they can upskill or reskill. And also for the young people, you know,
15:28it's also essential that they also develop the skills that are needed in this age of digital economy, AI.
15:36What would you like Thailand's global role to look like in five to ten years from now?
15:44Well, Thailand, I think everybody considers Thailand a nice, friendly country. You still want to be
15:52that nice, friendly country, welcoming to foreign visitors, you know, having, you know, all these
16:00attractions, Thai food. But at the same time, we cannot be sitting still. We have to modernize,
16:08we have to make sure that our economy remains dynamic. And that requires a lot of reform and
16:15restructuring. We want to be seen as not just a nice country, but also a dynamic country. But most
16:24importantly, we want to be seen as a responsible country. That means not just thinking of ourselves,
16:31thinking of the world, thinking of the international community, how we can contribute to making
16:37the world peaceful, better and safer place. We talk about global communities and governments
16:45coming together. You know, what do you think is the first priority which people need to address
16:52to make the world a better place? First, let's get the rule-based international system back on track.
16:59Yeah. We need international cooperation because we face so many challenges. You know,
17:04nobody can go alone. That's the first thing, to restore multilateralism.
17:10Mm-hmm. Second, of course, there are immediate challenges like climate change.
17:15We don't know what is the next black swan, when another pandemic will happen. But our main concern
17:24right now is the threats coming from cyberspace. Yes. You know, and these are transnational crime
17:33of all sorts. But our main concern right now is the threat of online scams. And this region is,
17:42we have to admit, is the center. Thank you so much for joining us on
17:45the World Conversation on Euronews today. What a pleasure to meet you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

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