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JIRAWAT KITWIWATKUL
Thammasat University
Economics, Econometrics & Finance Environmental Science Social Sciences

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The Evolution of Thai Foreign Policy: From Bamboo Diplomacy to Proactive Multiple Alignment in the Middle East JIRAWAT KITWIWATKUL
Journal of Environmental Economics and Sustainability Vol. 3 No. 3 (2026): May
Publisher : Indonesian Journal Publisher

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.47134/jees.v3i3.1248

Abstract

This study examines how Thailand's foreign policy is evolving from its traditional doctrine of “bamboo diplomacy” toward a more active strategy of “multiple alignment,” with particular focus on the Kingdom's engagement in the Middle East. Bamboo diplomacy—a flexible, reactive posture of bending with prevailing great-power winds—long preserved Thai sovereignty, but it is increasingly inadequate in a multipolar order defined by intensifying great-power competition and by Thailand's deep exposure to Middle Eastern energy, labour, and capital. The objective of the paper is to determine whether Thai foreign policy is undergoing a genuine strategic shift, and to define multiple alignment against the neighbouring concepts of neutrality and strategic hedging. The research employs qualitative document analysis, structured by the READ approach and triangulated across official government documents, macroeconomic and trade data, and scholarly international-relations literature. The analysis identifies three structural imperatives driving the shift and shows how they are institutionalised through the foreign-policy bureaucracy, the “Team Thailand” model, and the legally binding 20-Year National Strategy. A case study of the 2026 United States–Iran war (“Operation Epic Fury”) and the attack on the Thai-flagged vessel Mayuree Naree provides empirical validation, showing how Thailand combined bilateral confrontation, intermediary diplomacy, and multilateral normative framing to protect its interests during a systemic crisis. The study concludes that multiple alignment is not a rejection of bamboo diplomacy
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