RI, Thailand urged to foster greater ASEAN role

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Bangkok

While acknowledging that in general both Indonesia and Thailand have enjoyed good relations in the past 55 years, scholars urged both countries to ensure a more integrated Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as integration with the East Asian countries of China, Japan and South Korea.

Speaking at a seminar to commemorate the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Thailand on Monday, director of Bangkok's Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), Chookiat Panasporprasit, said that together, the countries represented the region's main geographical features.

"Thailand can play an important role in mainland ASEAN while Indonesia in maritime ASEAN. Both are intertwined and highly indispensable to maintain stability in the region.

"Both countries face similar problems at home and at the regional level while at the same time they have similar opportunities to consolidate and upgrade themselves for the welfare (of their people) in the decades to come."

Among the challenges, Chookiat pointed to addressing non- traditional security problems of terrorism as well as national disasters, poverty eradication and economy deprivation.

"There are also migration and people as well as drug trafficking problems. All these are transnational and border problems," he said.

Chookiat also urged the two countries to look beyond the ASEAN framework as there were ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Makmur Keliat of University of Indonesia's Center for East Asian Cooperation Studies went further by suggesting that in the future the acronym ASEAN would no longer mean the Association of Southeast Asian Nations but the Association of East Asian Countries.

"We must involve China as it will become a major power. Furthermore, the ASEAN mechanism will be useful in solving problems between Japan, China and South Korea.

"However, there are still questions. How do we achieve integration as individual countries and ASEAN as a whole? How to take decisions? Should they be taken gradually by consensus or taken in a non-ASEAN way?"

On the economic front, Chookiat said both countries relied on regional growth and reciprocal direct investment.

Trade between the two countries last year stood at US$5.5 billion with Thailand enjoying a $1.7 billion surplus.

Meanwhile, head of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Analysis and Development Agency, M.T. Dammen, pointed out that Indonesia was Thailand's largest and closest supplier of products extracted from natural resources such as oil, gas, coal, timber and fish.

"On the other hand, Thailand has the technological know-how and the capital necessary to invest in industrial development.

He said Thailand and Indonesia needed to find points of compatibility for bilateral economic cooperation while currently they were competing against one another.

However, Rizal Sukma of Jakarta's Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said the volume of trade between the two countries was still small, although diplomatic relations at the official level were good.

As for bilateral relations, Rizal said it was necessary to avoid artificial closeness and knowledge of each other.

"What do we really know about each other?" quipped Rizal.

"Thais may consider Indonesians as Muslim hard-liners while most Indonesians are more interested in Thai fruits such as durian Bangkok," he said.

Rizal went further asking Bangkok to play a mediatory role to resolving the Ambalat Block dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Bangkok hosted a conference back in 1966 to end confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia. This paved the way to the creation of ASEAN.

"But now everyone is silent. ASEAN is silent on such conflicts nowadays," he said while stressing that Thailand initiated the move from ASEAN's non-interference policy to constructive intervention.

Also speaking at the seminar was Indonesianist Withaya Sucharithanarugse from Chulalongkorn University and Edy Prasetyono of CSIS.

The seminar was organized by the Indonesian ambassador to Bangkok, Ibrahim Yusuf, and was also attended by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy director general for Asian affairs Chakkarin Chayapongse.