Proactive Thai Foreign Policy: Tourism, Connectivity, Soft Power

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry’s focus over the next six months will center on enhancing tourism, fostering connectivity with regional nations, and leveraging Thai Soft Power as key elements of its “proactive, people-centered economic diplomacy.”

During the second “Meet the Press” session held on September 19, Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa emphasized the importance of making diplomacy tangible, stating, “Diplomacy must be tangible, and diplomacy must put food on the table for the people.”

He presented a five-point policy agenda aimed at increasing financial inflows into the nation, improving the quality of life, ensuring safety and security, and promoting peace and shared prosperity with neighboring countries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is dedicated to maintaining its position as a proactive and frontline entity, furthering the government’s initiatives as articulated by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra during her address to Parliament. He assured that there will be increased engagement with the media to ensure the public remains informed about the Ministry’s activities.

An examination of the Minister’s remarks indicates that Thai embassies and diplomats stationed overseas will assume new responsibilities, promoting various aspects such as tourism, products, and festivals, while also addressing cross-border and regional issues, including narcotics, water management, call center fraud, PM 2.5 pollution, and transnational crime.

Additionally, a significant duty will involve supporting Thai citizens abroad, particularly those impacted by crises or conflicts.

Below is an unofficial translation of Minister’s remarks, provided to assist the Thai tourism sector in examining the details thoroughly.

There are two key insights for Thai tourism:

1) It is essential to establish consistent communication channels with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and its international network to facilitate feedback, address complaints, and coordinate corrective measures. This is particularly important for tackling fundamental issues that often exceed the capabilities of public sector agencies or private sector associations to resolve independently.

2) There is a necessity to draw lessons from the MFA’s media management approaches, which prioritize quality journalism from reputable media organizations rather than solely relying on influencers, bloggers, and content creators. The travel industry’s increasing focus on the latter since the rise of social media has resulted in a significant decline in the quality of industry discussions. This disparity must be addressed.