Thailand's China policy, 2014–2019: Hedging against China?

Abstract

The Thai government, under the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, was heavily criticized for bandwagoning with China, totally accommodating Chinese demands. However, this study argues that the criticism is unconvincing. By examining three instances of Thailand's China policy between 2014 and 2019 using Kuik's hedging theory, it is found that the NCPO government had concurrently maneuvered limited bandwagoning and dominance-denial policies. These maneuvers were shaped by domestic factors, especially regime legitimacy. Consequently, this article concludes that Thailand's China policy under the NCPO is more accurately deemed hedging behavior.

Keywords

• Balancing
• Bandwagoning
• Hedging
• Thailand
• China