RI ‘can count on Thailand’ for support

During and after the Thai political crisis, Jakarta’s relations with Bangkok are closer than ever, official says.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya arrived in Jakarta to update his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on his country’s latest situation as well as listen to what Indonesia has to say about the crisis his country faces.

Observers said that in a time when Thai credibility as a democratic country was severely under international attack, Indonesia’s view matters to fend off further criticism.

Jakarta, meanwhile, continues to express its full support for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s administration, with none of its officials criticizing steps taken by Thai military against protesters, creating a high level of comfort among officials between the two countries.

In return, Indonesia can now expect Thailand’s support for a number of issues on the international arena as Yudhoyono set himself to play a bigger international role, with Jakarta chairing ASEAN next year, and hosting a number of high-profile international events, including APEC, in the following years.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post recently, newly assigned Thai Ambassador to Indonesia Thanatip Upatising said Thailand would be 100 percent behind Indonesia in many parts of international agendas. “You can always count on us,” he said.

Thailand, he said, was the first country that supported Indonesia to swap the chairmanship with Brunei.

Indonesia will take over chairing ASEAN from Brunei.

It will also host the group’s summit next year after Brunei agreed to hand over the chairmanship to Jakarta during a meeting in Hanoi in May. Jakarta was initially supposed to chair the group and host the summit in 2013.

But Indonesia’s relations with Thailand will move beyond political rhetoric in its effort for prosperity to the people of both countries by deepening people-to-people contact and business-to-business relations, Upatising said.

Indonesia is Thailand’s third most important trading partner within ASEAN, with bilateral trade worth US$8.7 billion in 2007.

In an ultimate goal of realizing concrete results from the deepening of the relations, the Thai government sent Upatising, known as one of its most well-rounded diplomats, to Jakarta.

Thanatip’s experiences include previous assignments in Canada and the UN, before overseeing human capital management and administration at the Thai Foreign Ministry.

His achievement includes leading the country’s most significant civil servant reform in three decades.

Several months into his assignment, he took Thai businesspeople from different sectors to Indonesia.

Next week, for instance, sixteen Thai software companies, which have expressed their interest in investing in Indonesia, will hold a business matching meeting as a part of their road show in the country.

Upatising said the road show, scheduled for Wednesday, would try to dig in to Indonesia’s potential market in the field.

“We strive to create benefits for people of both countries in our relations. We mean business when we deal with other countries, especially Indonesia,” he said.