Thailand under the Pheu Thai Party-led governments has struggled over the past year to utilize cooperation with neighboring countries Cambodia and Myanmar to achieve the objective of economic development, stability and peace.
The previous government of Srettha Thavisin took proactive steps and proposed resumption of negotiations to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet during his February visit to Bangkok.
The Srettha administration set the ambitious agenda of resolving bilateral maritime disputes and developing a joint hydrocarbon extraction plan in the overlapping claims area in the Gulf of Thailand.
Thailand and Cambodia have made overlapping claims since the 1970s on a continental shelf of around 26,000 square kilometers in the Gulf, which potentially contains 9 trillion to 11 trillion cubic feet of natural gas as well as 500 million barrels of condensate and oil.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2001 to settle disputes and create a joint development arrangement. The souring of bilateral relations and domestic political troubles have derailed progress over the past 23 years.
Right-wing nationalists moved to block the efforts in March when the previous military-picked Senate launched a motion questioning the legitimacy of the 2001 MOU and reignited a discourse on loss of territory and sovereignty.
Right-wing obstacle
The current secretary general of the opposition Palang Pracharath Party, Paiboon Nititawan, lodged a petition with the Constitutional Court in June seeking a verdict to nullify the MOU on the grounds that it was never approved by Parliament before the signing.
Although the court ruled in September that Paiboon has no constitutional right to file the petition and gave the green light for the government to go ahead with its implementation, right-wing politicians and activists have not given up employing all means to obstruct the government’s efforts.
The government is, however, standing firm on its outreach policy. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who replaced Srettha as the prime minister, said in her declaration to Parliament on September 12 that her government would pursue negotiations with Cambodia on the overlapping claims areas, with the goal of achieving energy security and reducing the cost of energy.
Palang Pracharath leader Prawit Wongsuwan, meanwhile, instructed his crew to go all out in preventing the government from using the MOU as an instrument to negotiate with Cambodia.
Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, head of Palang Pracharath's academic group, tried to stir up public fear by warning that if the government resumed negotiations under the MOU framework, Thailand could lose sovereignty over Koh Kut Island.
Palang Pracharath Party executive member Kornkasiwat Kasemsri said Cambodia was claiming areas of the continental shelf beyond its right allowed by the international laws on the sea. If the MOU is used as a guide for negotiations, that would imply recognition and acceptance by Thailand of Cambodian claims, he said.
Media mogul-turned-activist Sondhi Limthongkul and his ultra-nationalist crew have amplified the same fears and threatened to call street protests demanding that the Paetongtarn government scrap the MOU.
Disquiet on the Myanmar border
Thailand’s border with Myanmar has been tense since early 2024 when dissidents in the strife-torn neighborhood launched a series of offensive operations against the military junta State Administration Council (SAC).
Armed dissidents under the leadership of the Karen National Union launched attacks in April on Myawaddy, a Myanmar border town opposite Mae Sot district in Tak province, leading to the displacement of thousands of people and the disruption of cross-border trade.
The incident also undermined the government and ASEAN’s humanitarian initiative to deliver assistance to affected people in the country that remains bogged down in a civil war and prolonged violence.
While Srettha’s government managed to deliver only 4,000 relief bags as humanitarian assistance to people in affected areas in late March, Paetongtarn’s Cabinet appears to have no clear plan to deal with the situation in Myanmar.
Tensions along the Thailand-Myanmar border escalated in December after the Myanmar navy attacked Thai fishing trawlers in the Andaman Sea, resulting in the death of one crew member and injuries to two others.
Four Thai crew members and the vessel's captain were detained in Kawthaung, Myanmar, on charges of illegal fishing and violating Myanmar's maritime territory. The Thai government formally protested the use of force against its civilians and called for their immediate release.
A meeting between Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa and the SAC’s foreign minister, Than Swe, on December 19 produced only hope that the Thai nationals would be released soon.
A Myanmar court sentenced the four Thai fishermen for up to six years in prison for fishing illegally in Myanmar waters. Their sentences were suspended as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. They are expected to be repatriated on January 4, officials said.
Meanwhile, tensions along the land border intensified as the United Wa State Army (UWSA), an ethnic armed group in Myanmar, increased its forces and expanded its presence in border areas near Thailand's Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai provinces.
Thai authorities demanded the withdrawal of the UWSA troops. This is unlikely to succeed, as local Wa units lack the authority to act without directives from their headquarters in Pangsang.
The tensions on the maritime and land borders have sparked nationalist sentiment in the public. They are demanding that the Paetongtarn government and the Thai armed forces take tough action to deal with the threats.
