Thailand relations with Iran blossom

Yesterday, Thailand's DSI claimed to have made a breakthrough in investigating the murder of a Saudi Arabian diplomat connected with the Blue Diamond Affair.

Back in January, Frank Anderson, writing at UPI, asked "why Saudi Arabia has mellowed a bit over time even though the jewels have not been located nor the murderers caught?" His answer was that Saudi Arabians may have had geopolitics on their mind:

. . . . One theory is the Gulf rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia, wherein the Saudi kingdom finds Iran’s growing influence in Thailand a disadvantage to its relations with Thailand.

Iran and Thailand have become somewhat amiable in the recent past, visiting each other’s local chambers of commerce and increasing trade ties. Also, Thailand’s southern Muslim community is of particular attention to both Iran and Saudi Arabia as it is a potential source for peddling influence.

In January 2007, Thailand’s Nation newspaper reported that trade between Iran and Thailand had increased 57 percent over the preceding ten months. Iran was exporting some US$50 million worth of chemicals, iron and steel, aquatics and machinery to Thailand and importing rice, radio and TV sets, air conditioners, synthetic fibers, electronic devices and rubber products, in return. There were forecasts that bilateral trade between the two countries would reach US$600 that year

Come to think of it, 2007 was the year Bangkok's grand food emporiums became stock full of delicious Iranian dates and figs.

A further testimony to the strength of Iranian-Thai relations was the decision made by Bangkok in September 2008 to release an Iranian arms dealer wanted by the US.

In a previous post I listed some of the remarkable similarities between Iran and Thailand.

However, probably the biggest reason Saudi Arabia has made an effort to patch up relations with Thailand in recent years has nothing to do with Iran. Saudi Arabia joined the WTO in 2005 and WTO rules "technically require Saudi Arabia to end discriminatory treatment of Thailand, especially on restricting the entry of Thai workers Thailand's major export to that country." Presumably, Thailand would stand a good chance to win a case against Saudi Arabia at the WTO if the discriminatory policies appear set to continue indefinitely on account of the missing gems. Perhaps the Thais are (finally) making a latch ditch effort to show some good faith while there is still time: the statute of limitations on the murders of Saudi diplomats run out in 2010 (see my timeline).

To return to the geopolitics, Iran may be Saudi Arabia's main rival, but Saudi Arabia must also competes with its fellow Gulf States. And The Gulf Times notes that a number of other Gulf States, notably Bahrain, but also Kuwait and Oman, have developed closer relations with Bangkok in recent years -- perhaps at the expense of Saudi Arabia:

Saudi diplomats' requests to have meetings to discuss the case with Thai officials every time a new government is formed in Bangkok.

While this is the scene as far as Riyadh-Bangkok ties were concerned, ties between Bangkok and other GCC member-states have not only continued growing, but have also been characterised by warmth, intimacy and mutual confidence.

The best example, in this context, is the relationship between Manama and Bangkok, whose officials exchange visits regularly at the highest level.

The two countries' bilateral cooperation has, in fact, expanded to fields other the traditional ones, such as human resources, high education, health, oil and gas.

Recently, the two sides signed a framework agreement aimed at creating favourable conditions for greater economic cooperation, eliminating barriers to trade to zero per cent by 2010. The Thais correctly view Bahrain as the best place in the region to be the gateway for their products to other Gulf states.

On my last visit to a private hospital in Bangkok, seated in the waiting room were several patients from Oman.