Seminar “Thailand and the New Geopolitics of Energy“
23 November 2023, 9.00 am – 13.00 pm at the Banyan I (Ballroom), 10th Floor, Banyan Tree Hotel, Bangkok
Organized by
Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University
and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Thailand
Thailand has a long history of successfully balancing its foreign policy and external relations towards #global players and regional neighbors. However, the ongoing shifts in the #geopolitical landscape present new challenges and press Thailand, among many countries, to recognize their impact on #energy#security and energy #governance, and to adjust related #policies and #strategies.The Institute of Asian Studies Chulalongkorn University and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Thailand addressed several important questions below in the seminar held today:
What is the impact of the current geopolitical landscape on Thailand’s energy security and energy governance?
How is Thailand facing potential challenges emerging from the diverse energy interacts of USA, China and other external players?
Which policies are currently in place to reconcile Thailand’s international climate goals with economic and security goals?
Does the complex dynamics of geopolitics call for a new energy security strategy, striving towards energy autonomy?More on geopolitics
Thailand has a long history of successfully balancing its foreign policy and external relations towards global players and regional neighbors. However, the ongoing shifts in the geopolitical landscape present new challenges and press Thailand, among many countries, to recognize their impact on energy security and
energy governance, and to adjust related policies and strategies. The war in Ukraine and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict play out in Thailand as rising energy costs and supply chain constraints, while the country is at a critical junction to transform its energy landscape away from fossil fuels towards more sustainable energy sources.
Amidst the global climate crisis, the energy crisis and a volatile international environment, Thailand’s energy economy and policy institutions play an important role in the complex dynamics of geopolitics. In order to reconcile long-term climate goals with short-term supply security, smart, effective and wellcoordinated policies need to be implemented. Resilient energy security strategies look at the different levels of energy governance (national, regional and global), as well as preferences in terms of the energy mix, national resources and external partners. Thailand’s energy governance is shaped by the close partnerships to the USA and China, as well as a range of bilateral agreements in the ASEAN region and beyond. What will be the impact of the new geopolitics of energy on Thailand? Could the present energy
security and energy governance policy evolve into a vision of energy autonomy? And what role could Thailand take in fostering the development of new standards of energy governance in the global community?
This seminar, jointly organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Thailand and the Institute of Asian
Studies at Chulalongkorn University, aims to facilitate a strategic discussion on these questions.
