The People of Thailand are on the streets protesting against the military-controlled government and the Thai royal family. They feel that they’ve suffered enough and threaten to take down the ruling power centres in Thailand as they are today. China, however, wishes to seize this opportunity to gain something substantial from these protests. Therefore, the Ultimate authoritarian Xi Jinping has put its weight behind the infamous Thai King and the corrupt centres of power in Thailand, in their fight against the people who are calling for unadulterated democracy.
Amidst the ongoing protests in Thailand, China sees a massive opportunity to gain economic and political leverage in Thailand. Amid the protests, it sees a lucrative new rail route, a maritime route, and billions of dollars’ worth of investments, which will all come at a cost, the suffering of the people in Thailand. China’s biggest aim to get the Kra canal project going, which shall cut Thailand in half and help solve China’s ‘Malacca Dilemma’.
Xi Jinping has sent a message of support for the king because he understands Thailand’s importance in his massive ‘BRI’ project for the fulfillment of the ‘China Dream’.
The power centers in Thailand know that if they are to remain in control then they’d need extreme backing from external powers. The US has already made its decision to back the people and the Trump administration has already suspended Duty-free access to $817 million worth of Thai imports. This leaves China to openly back the corrupt men in power and that’s what it’ll do because it has a lot to gain if the status quo in Thailand remains.
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Under public pressure, The Thai government had scrapped the Kra Canal project, the people believed that the canal will divide the nation. To further aggravate China’s pain the purchase of ‘Two Chinese submarines ‘ was also delayed.
The people of Thailand do not want their nation cut in half for Chinese geopolitical interests, moreover, they are wary of the threats of massive Chinese political and economic leverage on their security
So, if these power centers remain in place due to China’s influence then, they will align themselves with Chinese interests in the region and will push further for the construction of the Canal.
Furthermore, this will end Thailand’s resistance to balance Chinese influence in the region. With leaders indebted to China for their reign, Thailand will be forced to welcome massive BRI investments and other projects. The massive rail project that China has been pushing through will be realised and the Kra canal project will be back on the table. If this happens, Thailand will become the third state in the ASEAN region after Laos and Cambodia to fall in the Chinese Debt Trap.
So far, Thailand had regulated Chinese investments even though its power centers were backed by China, but if the same power centres remain then their allegiance to China-centric investments would be stronger than ever. Moreover, it’d also give way to excessive Chinese influence in ASEAN. Geopolitically it can destabilise the Southeast Asian region.
China will reap massive rewards by trapping Thailand’s power centres and the nation in its Debt Trap. Moreover, this could also push Thailand out of ASEAN, thereby giving way to even more excessive Chinese investments. China’s influence will rise manifolds and ultimately lead to a fall of the democratic regimes and a rise of China-sponsored authoritarian system.
Therefore, China is expected to go all guns blazing to keep the current Thailand regime intact, because it knows the massive profits it can gain by controlling a state of such great geostrategic significance and on the other hand the heavy losses it’ll incur if the people of Thailand once again establish Democracy as they’ve done many a time before.
