Month: August 2014

Bangkok’s Nation newspaper in an article titled, " Thailand to help launch investment bank for Asia ,"  reported that:  Thailand has been invited by China to become one of the founding fathers of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which is supported by this country’s central bank.  "There was no reason to refuse," Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said yesterday.  Thailand was offered a primary signing agreement as a member from October to November, according to a report by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO). The recent moves by the new military-led government of Thailand in relation to China have certainly given it more leverage against the West who regularly seeks to turn uncooperative nations into geopolitical  pariahs. The West so far has nothing to offer Thailand in terms of incentives beyond increasingly ineffective threats and coercion.  Chinese Opportunities, Western Threats  Indeed, while China offers Thailand opportunities to join alternative financial markets and strengthen regional ties, the West has resorted to a series of sociopolitical attacks aimed at undermining the credibility and stability of Thailand’s new government.  The latest attempt comes in the form of baseless allegations made by a notoriously dishonest, confrontational pro-Shinawatra propagandist  Kritsuda Khunasen who claims she was "tortured" by the military while recently detained.