'China is a close friend who has never left us during difficult circumstances," Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said in recent remarks to mark the 40th anniversary today of diplomatic relations between Thailand and China.
Gen Prayut was referring to China's post-coup stance when it pledged to maintain close ties with Thailand, unlike Western countries that gave the coup the cold shoulder.
Gen Prayut's remark shows the Sino-Thai relationship has come a long way from four decades ago when Thailand was closer to the United States and the Republic of China, known as Taiwan, than it was with mainland China.
Slowly that started to change, with Thai sports teams helping to lead the way.
Thailand sent teams to China to forge closer ties, including table tennis, badminton and basketball teams, says retired veteran diplomat Kobsak Chutikul, who accompanied the female basketball team to China with a diplomatic mission in the early 1970s.
"I joined the team as the assistant coach, following the badminton team that went before. It was a tough mission as we had to build trust,'' Mr Kobsak said.
"Thai diplomats held talks with Chinese officials while we watched the basketball game. The first two games in Beijing and Shanghai we lost to China but we won the last game in Guangzhou by 1-2 points, if I recall. We took our victory as a good sign sign for diplomacy too," Mr Kobsak added.
The efforts paid off when the late Thai prime minister Kukrit Pramoj signed a joint communique with Chinese prime minister Zhou Enlai, forging diplomatic ties on July 1, 1975.
During the 40-year relationship, China and Thailand have deepened their ties, in trade and investment in particular.
The extended stay of the giant pandas, on loan from China, have also strengthened relations.
economic expansion
Thai business leaders expect to see a substantial increase in trade and investment links between Thailand and China over the next three to five years especially in the area of Chinese direct investment in Thailand.
"Chinese and Thai businesses are not strangers as both countries have been developing trade and investment ties for four decades,'' said Somkiat Anuras, vice-chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
"We also have quite a few Thai-Chinese in the country, which is another key factor that helps strengthen ties."
Mr Somkiat said Thai-Sino links are likely to grow with Chinese involvement in the Thai government's infrastructure projects.
The Chinese government has expressed interest in investing in the dual-gauge rail link from Nong Khai to Bangkok and Bangkok to Songkhla. The route will help China cut logistics costs.
"China will take a bigger role in transport, logistics, railways and roads. It's obviously part of a strategy in which China hopes to increase its economic power in Asean," Mr Somkiat said.
Mr Somkiat said China has signalled it wants to use Thailand as a centre to link to other Asean countries.
"China has a lot of capital. Over the next decade, China could surpass the US as the world's largest economic power," Mr Somkiat said.
On the other side, the entry of Chinese firms especially small and medium-size operators could harm Thai SMEs, as the Chinese have more funds and strong support from their government.
"We have to admit our SMEs are relatively weak. If the Thai government allows the Chinese to enter the market freely, it could do real harm to our SMEs," Mr Somkiat said.
"Our government should pay attention to the issue, and ensure we have measures in place to protect our businesses."
Big corporates from China also are thought to be keen to enter the Thai real estate and retail sector.
Boon Vanasin, an adviser to the Thai-Chinese Council, said trade and investment between the countries are expected to increase substantially as China is a huge market with more than 1 billion people.
With Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 6% to 7% per year, Dr Boon said China would remain an attractive country to invest in.
Thailand is a favourite destination of Chinese tourists, with 4.6 million Chinese visitors from a total of 9.9 million tourists visiting the country last year. In the first half of the year, 3.2 million Chinese visited.
Defence alliance
The relationship between Thailand, China and the United States came into the spotlight after last year's coup.
While the US limited the military aspect of its relationship with Thailand as it pressured the government to hold an election and return democracy to Thais as quickly as possible, China expressed understanding of the Thai political situation. It also praised the army for helping restore peace and order to the country.
Closer ties between Thailand and China are evident in the number of high-level visits between politicians of the two countries recently.
Last year, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon visited China twice, including a visit in December when he took the defence permanent secretary, the supreme commander and army commanders to accompany him.
The Chinese defence minister visited Thailand in January, calling on Gen Prawit to step up military cooperation between the countries, particularly a special offer on Chinese-made tanks and submarines.
Gen Prawit said the navy needs submarines for maritime defence.
"We didn't choose sides. We are glad to keep the relationship strong with every country because having good friends is important. And friends should also be the ones who understand and help each other in difficult times," he said.
A naval committee, chaired by Adm Narongphol na Bangchang, deputy commander of the Royal Thai Navy, has agreed to buy Chinese submarines — the Yuan 041 — costing about 36 billion baht.