On August 18, representatives of Thailand’s House of Commons read out a royal decree, officially appointing Pethontan Chinawat, the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the current leader of the Pheu Thai Party, as the new Prime Minister of Thailand. As a

As a good neighborly and friendly country with China, when Thailand’s new prime minister came to power, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs naturally sent a congratulatory message as soon as possible. And so far, it seems that this congratulatory message is indeed not in vain.

Petuntan expressed his positive attitude toward China at a press conference as soon as he took office. said he hoped to achieve more cooperation with China.

Petongthan Chinawat held a press conference

For a long time, Thailand's foreign policy has been very delicate. As early as the Second World War, the Thai royal family showed superb "siding skills". It first cooperated with Japan and supported the pro-Japanese government to come to power, and then successfully jumped out of the car and switched to the allies when the old Japan was gone. rule in Thailand to this day.

In modern times, Thailand's diplomatic stance is still changing. Around the 1960s, Thailand was a loyal ally of the United States. It once served as an important springboard for its attack on Vietnam and provided a large number of military bases to facilitate the US military.

This trend has continued until recent years, when Thailand’s diplomatic direction began to shift towards China. Former Prime Minister Saitha Thakur, who was just dismissed not long ago, once said in a public speech that "China is Thailand's elder brother." This attitude cannot be described as humility.

Former Thai Prime Minister Saitha

And Thailand’s stance has indeed brought a lot of practical benefits. In recent years, cooperation between China and Thailand has continued to advance, and major projects such as the Pan-Asian Railway have been launched or are about to be launched, injecting an injection into Thailand’s economic development. strong motivation.

Today, in the entire Thai political arena, except for the Far Progress Party, which is absolutely pro-American, maintaining good diplomatic relations with China has basically become a consensus among all political forces in Thailand.

However, this is obviously not a situation that the United States wants to see. As early as last year's general election, the United States began to actively release signals of support for the Far Progress Party, hoping to regain control of Thailand through the Far Progress Party's coming to power.

Although the Constitutional Court currently controlled by the Thai military has directly kicked the Far Progress Party off the table, this does not mean that the newly elected Pheu Thai government can let go and not care what the United States thinks.

Therefore, the extent to which the Pethonthan government can promote further cooperation between Thailand and China requires further observation.

Thailand’s Far Progress Party candidate Pita

At present, the Pethontan regime still has at least two major problems that need to be solved. The first is the stakes among the intricate political forces in Thailand.

With the issuance of the royal decree, the Thaksin family has also become a super political family of "two generations and three princes". Thaksin himself, Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra and Thaksin's daughter have all served as Prime Ministers of Thailand. The Pheu Thai Party led by him is undoubtedly the largest force in Thailand's secular politics today.

But at the same time, the interests of the Thai royal family and the military must be considered by the Pheu Thai Party. On this point, the Pheu Thai Party has actually done well in recent years, and it is also one of the reasons why Pethonthan immediately announced that he would strengthen cooperation with China after he came to power, because this is one of the few uncontroversial consensuses among the three parties.

Pethonthan and his father Thaksin

In other aspects, such as the Pheu Thai Party’s latest economic policies and the public’s doubts about his family’s politics, they are not so easy to solve.

In addition, facing the onslaught of youth forces represented by the Far Progress Party, the Pheu Thai Party appears to be powerless. Although has been declared disbanded by the Constitutional Court of Thailand, the impact of the Far Progress Party's victory on Thailand's political arena is far from over. , the "youth movement" it represents has formed a force that cannot be underestimated in Thailand's political arena.

Thailand Constitutional Court

However, judging from the current public information, Petongtan is not entirely without the possibility of solving these problems.First of all, Petontin’s husband is a descendant of the royal family, and he represents the interests of the royal family to a certain extent. Moreover, Petuntan just gave birth to a son not long ago. At present, it seems that the royal family should be relatively close to him.

On the other hand, The conflict between the military and Thaksin's family seems to have gradually eased. Thaksin and Thaksin's sister Yingluck were just acquitted not long ago, and Petontan's coming to power has something to say. It would be impossible without the support of the military behind it.

In addition, Pethonthan himself is just 37 years old this year and is the youngest prime minister in the history of Thailand. This status allows him to change the old-fashioned image of the Thai Party and make it more popular with young voters. To a certain extent, disrupt the offensive momentum of the youth movement.

Pethontan and his family

But no matter what, politics is the art of compromise. How Thailand’s political situation will develop in the future has a lot to do with Pethontan’s gaming methods and the degree of compromise. But no matter how it develops, Thailand's China policy will probably not change much in the short term.