Cambodia

Thailand

Economics

Military & Security

Politics

Cambodia agreed to move recently deployed troops from their positions along disputed areas of the Cambodia-Thailand border following Thai economic pressure, including border crossing and visa restrictions for Cambodian visitors, the Bangkok Post reported on June 9.

Thailand, Cambodia: Cambodian Troops 'Reposition' Away From Border

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra vowed that Thailand was ready to defend its border positions if Cambodia attacked, a day after Bangkok rejected International Court of Justice jurisdiction over the dispute, the Bangkok Post reported on June 4. 

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok Rejects ICJ Jurisdiction Over Border Dispute as Phnom Penh Warns of Escalation

Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged gunfire for roughly 10 minutes in the disputed Chong Bok area, resulting in the death of one Cambodian soldier, Nation Thailand reported on May 28.

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Dispute Leads to Clash, One Soldier Killed

Bahrain

Kuwait

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Brunei Darussalam

China

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

Singapore

Vietnam

Energy

Malaysia hosted the inaugural Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council-China trilateral summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Channel News Asia reported on May 27.

Asia-Pacific, MENA: ASEAN-GCC-China Inaugural Summit Marks Deeper Economic Alignment

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations finalized negotiations for version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, expanding the deal to cover digital trade, green cooperation and enhanced supply chain integration, Reuters reported May 21.

China, ASEAN: Negotiations Conclude for Upgraded Trade Deal

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced their countries have officially elevated bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, marking the highest level of diplomatic ties short of a military alliance, Vietnamese state-run Bao Chinh Phu reported on May 16.

Vietnam, Thailand: Governments Upgrade Ties to Top Tier

United States

Indonesia and Thailand are reshaping energy import strategies to boost economic ties with the United States ahead of looming tariff deadlines, Reuters and the Bangkok Post reported respectively on May 9.

Indonesia, Thailand, U.S.: Jakarta and Bangkok Seek Energy Realignment To Avert Tariffs 

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

The United States imposed antidumping and countervailing duties ranging from an effective 0% to 3,521% on solar panels and modules imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, according to U.S. Commerce Department data published on April 22, with rates on the affected exporting companies depending on their level of cooperation with the U.S. investigation.

U.S., ASEAN: New U.S. Tariffs To Hammer Solar Panel Exports, Chinese Transshipment

Snapshots

The Ta Moan Thom temple is seen on the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

While full-scale military conflict is unlikely, the dispute risks spurring localized border clashes, as both Cambodia and Thailand maintain entrenched military positions with no clear legal resolution.

Thai-Cambodian Tensions Flare Over Disputed Temple, Raising Fears of Clashes

Assessments

Timor-Leste

The flags of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are seen on display.

U.S.-China Relations

Malaysia's chairmanship will be pivotal in navigating security risks as well as those from U.S. trade restrictions, potential Chinese economic coercion, and supply chain realignments that threaten ASEAN's cohesion and strategic autonomy.

Previewing Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship

The Geopolitics of Water

Amid pressing energy and geopolitical needs, the accelerating construction of upstream dams will exacerbate the Mekong River region's water shortages and environmental degradation.

The Geopolitics of Water: National Interests Sideline Environmental Concerns in the Mekong River Region

Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (center) and other ASEAN leaders take part in the 2024 ASEAN summit in Vientiane on Oct. 9, 2024. 

The deals signed at the summit reflect an increasing focus on economic integration amid the Southeast Asian bloc's continued failure to find consensus on security issues.

Reviewing the 2024 ASEAN Summit

The flags of ASEAN members are displayed at a naval base during the ASEAN Solidarity Exercise in Batam, Natuna regency, Riau Islands province, Indonesia, on Sept. 20, 2023. 

ASEAN's economic and geopolitical diversity will impede significant progress toward deeper integration, despite members' intention to collaborate more closely.

Economic and Geopolitical Diversity Hinders ASEAN's Path to Deeper Integration

Former Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin addresses the media after the Thai Constitutional Court removed him from office Aug. 14 in Bangkok.

The removal of the Thai prime minister represents the military establishment's latest attempt to impose its influence on the government, which in the coming months and years will continue to constrain Thailand's economic growth while stoking social unrest.

The Thai Military Establishment Replaces Another Prime Minister

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin watches a race during the F1 Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, on May 19, 2024.

Three legal cases against prominent political figures portend renewed protests and policy paralysis that will weigh on Thailand's fragile economy.

Thai Politics Undergoes Another Round of Instability

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at the gala dinner for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2023. 

Over the next year, Tokyo will provide ASEAN countries with military equipment and more infrastructure investment, which will raise threat perceptions and further deteriorate Japan's ties with China.

The Implications of Japan's Growing Interest in Southeast Asia

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

Regional leaders pose for a group photo before the ASEAN-Australia summit, held as part of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 7, 2023. From left to right stand the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

ASEAN's most recent summit underscored chronic passivity within the bloc that will only worsen in 2024. 

Amid ASEAN's Inaction, the Block's Members Look to External Partners for Security

Thailand's newly appointed prime minister, Srettha Thavisin (center), greets supporters at his Pheu Thai Party's headquarters in Bangkok on Aug. 22, 2023.

The government marks a compromise between erstwhile rivals and marginalizes the pro-democracy movement, but economic recovery will prove challenging.

After Months of Gridlock, Thailand Appoints a New Government

Located in Southeast Asia, Thailand is bordered by Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. The core of modern Thailand lies on the flat, rich lowlands in the central Chao Phraya River basin. This basin is one of the world's most fertile agricultural areas, growing mostly rice and fruits. As a result, it became a political and economic center, where Bangkok, the country's capital, was founded.    Thailand’s strategic location between Indochina and the Andaman and South China seas, along with its agricultural resources, has historically made it a target of foreign invasion. Therefore, Thailand’s main geographic challenge is protecting its core from invaders while consolidating power in its diverse outlying regions.    Protected in the north by mountains and the Khorat Plateau, Thailand’s biggest external threats have come through the Tenasserim mountain range from Myanmar or from Cambodia to the east. But Thailand’s central location also helped prevent its colonization, as the French and British used it as a buffer between each other's empires.    Thailand’s geography has also presented internal challenges. In the northwest, mountainous terrain has prevented the area from being easily controlled, fostering political struggles in modern times between these provinces and Bangkok. Annexed in the early 20th century, southern Thailand has an ethnically Malay, Muslim majority and continues to resist Bangkok through low-level insurgency and violence. Although Thailand's size, location and arable land allow it to exert influence regionally, its unwieldy periphery and occasionally hostile neighbors will continue to present it with challenges.

SITUATION REPORTS

Thailand, Cambodia: Cambodian Troops 'Reposition' Away From Border

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok Rejects ICJ Jurisdiction Over Border Dispute as Phnom Penh Warns of Escalation

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Dispute Leads to Clash, One Soldier Killed

Asia-Pacific, MENA: ASEAN-GCC-China Inaugural Summit Marks Deeper Economic Alignment

China, ASEAN: Negotiations Conclude for Upgraded Trade Deal

Vietnam, Thailand: Governments Upgrade Ties to Top Tier

Indonesia, Thailand, U.S.: Jakarta and Bangkok Seek Energy Realignment To Avert Tariffs

U.S., ASEAN: New U.S. Tariffs To Hammer Solar Panel Exports, Chinese Transshipment

Forecasts

ANALYSES

SECTIONS

Explore

Subscribe

Help & Support