Roots of Resilience: Interests and Values in Thai Foreign Policy

In: Journal of current Southeast Asian affairs

Abstract

This article reinterprets the Thai discourse of bamboo diplomacy. In a normative study of Thai foreign policy, bamboo diplomacy has been readily taken as a self-explanatory approach behind the resilience of Thailand's position through bending with the prevailing wind of international politics for its survival. However, the oversimplification of this view of bamboo diplomacy belittles the reality in which the making of Thai foreign policy demands careful calculations and even sacrifices from the political elites. Proposing a reinterpretation of Thai diplomacy, the article argues that Thai bamboo diplomacy has been shaped by the interplay between interests and values as a basis of the shift of Thai positions and alliances throughout the country's history. A main research question is: Under which condition is a values-based Thai foreign policy formulated and implemented? While the interests-driven approach has remained central to Thai foreign policy, Thailand has demonstrated some resilience in its shift towards a values-based foreign policy if dictated by domestic and international factors. Under this circumstance, values are vital as a legitimisation mechanism for the shift of foreign policy and alliances for the ultimate attainment of national interests.