Improving thai-singaporean relations at the people level

He was invited to attend the eighth coordinating meeting of the Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP), a platform that brings together senior civil servants to discuss bilateral issues and to find ways to foster closer cooperation.

Bilateral relations turned frigid after former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in the city-state in January 2007, purportedly to have lunch with Singaporean deputy prime minister S Jayakumar. The incident provoked anger among the coup leaders who believed that Singapore was continuing its pro-Thaksin policy in the wake of the scandalous Temasek-Shin Corp deal.

During the recent CSEP meeting, Yeo expressed his positive mood regarding the improved Thai-Singaporean relations. He said, "We share common interests in opening up our economies to each other; we share a common interest in a stronger Asean. On the larger regional architecture, on relations with China, India, Japan and the US, we share identical interests. Also, in the fight against terrorism, we are on the same side".

But will this relationship be smooth, as the minister hopes it will be, amid a changing political situation in Thailand and an increasingly unpredictable regional environment?

It is true that Singapore has long been a strategic partner of Thailand. It is also true that their relations can be traced back at least to the reign of King Chulalongkorn who travelled to Singapore for the first time in 1871. Thailand and Singapore have cooperated closely in various fields, especially in their military activities, such as the annual Cobra Gold military exercise.

On the economic front, Singapore ranks among Thailand's top five largest trading partners, and its top 10 foreign investors. Solid relations are also underpinned by existing mechanisms such as the Prime Ministerial Retreat and STEER (Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship). Moreover, there are over 50,000 Thai workers who are now being employed in Singapore.

Despite such a strong bilateral foundation, relations have long been confined within an old structure, and at some point they became dangerously taken for granted. During the pre-Thaksin period, bilateral relations might have seemed unruffled on the surface. At a deeper level, however, new domestic and global developments have had a powerful impact on this long-established relationship.

The most evident development is the rapid democratisation and economic advancement in Thailand during the past decade that has paved the way for a more open society, the emergence of a new kind of leadership and a more active role for the civil society and the new media. Unfortunately, both Thai and Singaporean leaders have failed to appreciate these new changes.

There has also been a trend in the changing public attitude in Thailand. The Thai public has progressively become more engaged in the political process than before and pushed for more influence on domestic and foreign policy. This has inevitably affected Thailand's position, especially towards neighbouring countries, including Singapore. Moreover, a new regional environment has further complicated its relations with those neighbours.

Central to the issue of Thai-Singaporean relations is the role of Temasek Holdings and its image among the Thai people. Temasek became the target of attack and the reason behind the rally in Bangkok following the Temasek-Shin Corp deal. Singapore's support for the Thaksin regime was understandable, since working with Thaksin was in Singapore's national interests. Thailand might have done the same if it served its own interests too.

But what went wrong was that Singapore simply overlooked the mounting importance of pluralism in Thailand. Both Singapore and Temasek need to do more homework on the reality and nature of Thai politics.

More importantly, the need to understand the people's mentality is highly important. The image of the "Ugly Singaporean" in eyes of Thais could obstruct the state's attempt to improve this bilateral relationship. Many may argue that the negative feelings of Thais toward Singapore were not intentionally directed at Singapore alone - they were part of the manipulation of Thai nationalism against foreigners in order to boost the political legitimacy of the country's leaders. But it is now rather convenient to paint Singapore as a "bad guy" because of its past policy.

Perhaps, the healing process may begin with sowing the seeds of understanding at the people's level, through more rigorous student exchange programmes, and more intensive interactions between businessmen, civil society and think-tank organisations between the two countries.

Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.