Pinit Jarusombat, president of the Thai-Chinese Cultural Relationship Council (TCCRC), has urged any incoming government to boost trade ties with China as well as speed up a logistics master plan linking the two countries.
Mr Pinit, a former deputy prime minister, said that the trade value between Thailand and China is expected to reach about US$200 billion this year and the new government should roll out measures to further increase the trade value to $500 billion in the next two years.
In particular, he said the new government should promote the export of agricultural produce, including rubber products, maize, rice, tapioca and durian, to China.
"The onus is on the new government to boost the prices of local produce so farmers can make more money to ease their debt problems," Mr Pinit said.
He said the new government should speed up cooperation in logistics, particularly the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
"The new government and China must move to complete the high-speed railway from Kunming to Bangkok and then Malaysia and Singapore. This would make Thailand a regional logistics hub,'' Mr Pinit said, adding Thailand and China have longstanding amicable relations.
He went on to say that with new global powers emerging, the new government must come up with a strong foreign policy, particularly regarding Thai-Chinese ties, that serves the country's best interests.
"The new government will play a key role in the Indo-Pacific region, Asean and Thai-Chinese relations. It must not support or get the country involved in any confrontation or conflict.
"This will pose a challenge for the incoming government," the TCCRC president said.