In Asean, Vietnam is Thailand's only strategic partner. Three points in particular underpin the countries' unique ties.
First of all, the days of Thailand and Vietnam fighting are over. Gone are the three centuries of conflict, when the region was plagued by territorial conquests and tribal rivalries. There were also times the two countries cooperated to ward off external threats.
In the early 1940s, when Vietnam fought a war for independence, Thailand assisted the country's revolutionary leader, Nguyen Ai Quoc, popularly known as Uncle Ho, to fight against the French colonial power. He even spent time travelling through Siam during 1928-29 to recruit fighters and map out strategies to gain his country's independence. Today, his safe house in Ban Na Choke in Nakhon Phanom has become a must-see tourist attraction.
But these long-standing friendships were severely disrupted during the Cold War, starting in the 1950s, when Vietnam became Thailand's No.1 enemy due to ideological differences. Fearing the country would be the next domino to fall to communism, Thailand co-operated with the US, dispatching troops and allowing US soldiers and aeroplanes to wage war against Vietnam from Thai soil until the fall of Saigon in 1975.
A year later, after Vietnam was reunified, Thailand established diplomatic ties, but not long after, their relations were disturbed again when an ultra-right government took charge in Bangkok and downgraded relations due to a widespread leftist movement in Thailand. Bilateral ties improved briefly after a new Thai military government took over in 1977. Then, once more, their relations suffered a setback after Vietnam invaded Cambodia in late 1978 and removed the Khmer Rouge government in 1979. Throughout the next 12 years, their relations were put to a severe test. Friendship returned when the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1991. Trust and confidence gradually emerged, allowing genuine cooperation.
Secondly, Thai-Vietnamese friendship is more functional, having been stabilised and strengthened by Vietnam move to join Asean in 1995. Both sides accelerated cooperation in all fields, taking advantage of Vietnam's resource-rich and large consumer market. Most important has been Vietnam's enthusiasm to promote market-oriented economic policies. The past two decades allowed both countries to fine-tune their national development programmes and activities. Vietnam has taken the high road, quickly expanding the country's foreign trade relations, emerging as the region's most internationally connected, with 17 free-trade agreements. Vietnam was one of four Asean nations that joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Thailand's record, as a free and open economy, pales in comparison.
Indeed, Vietnam's attractive trade regime has propelled Thailand to forge even closer economic ties and move toward a digitised economy. Thai investors have taken full advantage of political stability and the new investment atmosphere under successive governments in Hanoi since the Doi Moi policy began in earnest in 1980s. Today, Thailand has a trade surplus and is Vietnam's leading trading partner and investor. By 2020, two-way trade is expected to be in the realm of US$20 billion (665 billion baht).
Obviously, growing Thai-Vietnam economic ties also leads to more interactions between people and organisations. This is true in key industrial and investment areas, especially in southern Vietnam, where Thai investors put most of their investments. Thai investors have to be responsive to local needs and conditions. Effective implementation of corporate social responsibility, rule of law and governance by Thai companies will become a new rallying point to promote healthy economic relations.
Rule of law and governance issues also have an international dimension, especially within the context of new Thai-Vietnam maritime cooperation, which includes economic and security aspects. Given their long coastline, they are planning to cooperate with Cambodia in coastal shipping. Of late, Thailand's intense engagement with the EU over illegal fishing could provide valuable lessons for Vietnam to avoid the pitfalls of the past. Like their Thai counterparts, Vietnamese fishing fleets are very active in international waters as well. Both sides are considering future maritime cooperation in anti-piracy and anti-human-trafficking at sea. Cybersecurity cooperation is also in the pipeline.
Finally, today bilateral relations are moving toward a new plateau, with stronger strategic and economic components. When Vietnamese Prime Minister Nyugen Xuan Phuoc arrives in Bangkok this weekend for a three-day visit, Thailand is ready to embrace Vietnam as never before. Both countries realise that they are stronger together. At this juncture, as a senior Thai foreign policy official put it, Thai-Vietnamese ties no longer have any single irritant to disrupt or slow down cooperation. "The sky is the limit," she said.
In the days ahead, their relations will also impact overall development in mainland Southeast Asia, especially those related to various economic frameworks.
As part of the Asean Community and other sub-regional organisations, Thailand and Vietnam are considered a twin-turbo engine that can uplift the regional economy and create social equality and stability in the Mekong subregion. Each has its own economic corridors to connect with Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. They need to tweak their broad economic plans to increase their commonalities to ensure effective and efficient implementation.
In their own right, Thailand and Vietnam are game changers. Their historical ties with major powers, including the US and China, have already created a new dynamic in the region that allows them to assert strategic influence as never before. As long as Thai-Vietnam ties remain stable, peace and prosperity will prevail in mainland Southeast Asia.
Kavi Chongkittavorn is a veteran journalist on regional affairs.