Thailand needs to get a grip on its foreign policy priorities

THAILAND'S long-standing foreign policy of "bamboo bending with the wind", and its more recent "bamboo swirling in the wind" diplomacy, are proving to be outdated, while its foreign policymaking and implementation are in bureaucratic gridlock.

There is much evidence that the "bamboo bending/swirling" policies may best be replaced.

"Bamboo bending" had served as a survival strategy, enabling Bangkok to defuse the threat of European colonialism and Japanese occupation in the Second World War.