Thai mindset must change

Thai mindset must change

4 June 2013

Thais must overcome prejudices about India if bilateral ties are to receive a boost, writes kavi chongkittavorn 

Despite thousands of years of common history and culture, Thailand and India have not bonded in the modern world. Thailand has repeatedly glossed over the civilisation that inspired Southeast Asian countries and helped form their identities. The Thai adores the Western civilisation. Fortunately, though, India remains a land of pilgrimage for several hundreds of thousands of Thai Buddhists each year, tracing the legend of Buddhism. Last week, visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a great gift to Thailand ~ a sapling of the Maha Bodhi Tree ~ the tree under which Lord Buddha attained enlightenment.

In January 2012, during her landmark visit to New Delhi as the Indian government’s guest of honour for the country’s Republic Day celebrations, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged the Indian side to upgrade their relations to a “strategic partnership”. Since then, both countries have been working very hard to augment the newfound strategic values. Although Mr Singh’s visit was less than 20 hours long, both sides managed to produce a joint statement of nearly 3,000 words ~ one of the longest in the annals of Thailand’s bilateral relations. The 41 paragraphs captured the whole spectrum of Thai-India relations with diplomatic niceties. In fact, there is more to these ancient relations than meets the eye.

Both sides have their compatible strategies. India has pursued its “Look East” policy since 1992, immediately after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, as a tool to move closer to Asia, especially Asean, to increase trade and draw in investment. Thailand’s “Look West” came only a decade ago, after losing the best opportunities to other Asean members. Bangkok’s westward movement was not new and it was supposed to encompass the whole of West Asia, including Pakistan, Iran and even Turkey. But so far, India has been the focus. Back in 1977, Bangkok was instrumental in setting up BIMSTEC, which recently renamed itself under the original acronym as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Both Thailand and India are the driving force of this group.

Over the past three years, their ties have been reinvigorated as their leaders met frequently and additional schemes of cooperation were added, reflecting shifts in priorities due to the new landscape in broader Asia. India has now singled out Thailand as a top strategic asset, ahead of Singapore. During the visit, both countries managed to increase bilateral cooperation to partake in regional schemes in terms of connectivity and maritime security areas. India has shown keen interest to invest in the Dawei Deep Seaport and its Special Economic Zone since it was conceived in 2003. But Thailand ignored India altogether for a long time, despite repeated overtures from the Indian government and the private sector. The stumbling block was removed last week, when Thailand officially invited India for the first time to invest in the money-starved mega-project. Now, the country can truly be a gateway for India and West Asia.

Soon both countries have to sit together and identify deliverable projects linking India, Myanmar, Thailand and the rest of Asean. India has invited Thailand for a road show on its soil and urged potential Thai investors to join in the trilateral highway project to produce “seamless” connectivity between the three countries. The project is also part and parcel of a broader connectivity project. India is improving its national connectivity such as the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Corridor, which later on can be linked to the Mekong-India Economic Corridor and beyond. India contributes US$1 million to the Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute of Asean and East Asia, which has already drawn up a comprehensive plan to boost Asean-India connectivity.

Lest we forget the security aspect: In 1997, Thailand joined India as the second country in Asia to have its own aircraft carrier ~ Chakri Nareubet. After a few years in service, mainly in disaster relief and humanitarian operations, there were discussions for refurbishment of a weapons system by India in early 2000 but no progress was made. Since then, Chakri Nareubet has been retired and has become a mammoth museum piece in Chon Buri. However, with a nearly 1,000-kilometre common maritime border in the Andaman Sea, their navies continue to cooperate closely through joint naval exercises to help curb piracy and other forms of seaborne transnational crimes. Strengthening maritime security cooperation will be one of the top priorities. Both share common views that international sea-lanes must be freely accessed and safety guaranteed. India also has pledged to improve the capacity of Thailand’s coast guards.

When it comes down to people-to-people level, a lot more can be done. Now that an extradition treaty has been signed between the two countries, erasing India’s longstanding security concerns, New Delhi can quickly free its stringent visa regime for Thai passport holders to increase tourism. Last year, more than 1.2 million Indians visited Thailand while only 120,000 Thais visited there. Indians can get visas on arrival at the point of entry in the country but Thais could not, while Filipinos, Laotians, Vietnamese and Cambodians enjoy the privilege. The combined tourists from these countries visiting India were only one-fifth of the Thai visitors.

Apart from tourists, many Thai students continue to choose India for overseas education, with nearly 10,000 students studying there, including in elementary schools. With Thammasat University offering a BA course in Indian Studies this year, the first of its kind, interest in India among Thai students will certainly increase. While this linkage has been highlighted by the officials, other Indian popular culture is slowly making a comeback in Thailand. Indian films have returned to theatres after a two-decade absence and being confined to VDO rentals. Many Indian films are now being shot in Thailand. Indian garments are still in vogue. Tandoori chicken beat the Thai grilled version at shopping malls. Indian chai (milk tea) is more popular than ever with, of course, some Taiwanese variations.

All said and done, Thailand and Thais still have to change their mindset when it comes to their overall perception of India. With more Indians visiting here, realistic and positive images of India are emerging, replacing past prejudices. Without acceleration and sustaining of this healthy trend, the joint statement signed last week will prove hollow.

The writer is a senior Thai journalist and commentator

the nation/ann

Thai mindset must change