In an article for the Council on Foreign Relations, Benjamin Zawacki looks at the relationship between Thai civil society and the Belt and Road Initiative. An immediate problem when trying to examine this relationship is the question of which projects are – and which are not – part of the BRI.
Zawacki explains that Thais do not have one single understanding or narrative of the BRI. There is broad agreement in Thailand that the high-speed rail from China to Singapore which enters Thailand at the Lao border and exits it at the border with Malaysia is a BRI project, although it was agreed upon in 2010 (three years before the announcement of BRI). According to Zawacki this rail project is one of the few where Beijing and Bangkok both agree it is part of the BRI. A 2019 Chinese list contained 7 BRI projects in Thailand, even though they had not been publicized as part of BRI in Thailand itself. In turn, a project that in Thailand is understood to be part of BRI was not on the list.
The nature of BRI has changed over recent years. It is no longer just focused on large infrastructure projects. Widely discussed examples of this change are the Health Silk Road and the Digital Silk Road. However, Zawacki brings up another element of the BRI in Thailand: religion. Buddhist associations in Thailand and China have been sending delegations to discuss the Belt and Road. Besides the reality that it is sometimes unclear which projects are part of the BRI, it is also interesting to broaden our understanding of what can be part of the BRI.
Vera Kranenburg
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