RI, Thailand urged to foster greater ASEAN role

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.