Last Thursday evening, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai showed his true colours when he addressed the repatriation of 40 Uyghurs to China. Cool as a cucumber, he spoke with authority yet with an apologetic tone. That day's press conference was his perfect coda; other cabinet ministers were mere decorative artefacts.
A whirlwind of events has marked the last 10 days in one of the most intense periods in Thai diplomatic engagement. When pieced together, they reveal the country's efforts to balance great-power relations, regional security, and humanitarian challenges simultaneously.
It also demonstrated that Thaksin Shinawatra, father of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was one of the driving forces calling the shots.
Even as the decision on the Uyghurs was being finalised, Thailand and the United States kicked off the 44th Cobra Gold annual exercise, the largest joint military drill in the Indo-Pacific region. As one of Washington's five regional treaty allies, Thailand plays a critical role in ensuring the region's security and stability. Each year, several thousand troops from Thailand, the US, and nearly 30 other countries participate in these joint exercises, strengthening interoperability across multiple domains among allied forces. The drills also highlight Thailand's reliance on American military technology, with most participating nations using US-made weapons systems.
Besides Cobra Gold, it was no coincidence that during the week, the Royal Thai Air Force made its intentions clear that it would purchase Gripen fighter jets instead of F-16s. The recently conducted test flights of the Swedish-made jets had already sent a strong signal of its preference. Thailand had long sought to procure advanced F-35 fighter jets from the US, but Washington instead offered upgraded F-16s -- aircraft the kingdom has been operating since 2003.
Meanwhile, Thailand, Myanmar, and China held a tripartite meeting on Thursday to discuss their cooperation in combating scam call centres. On the country's western border, thousands of foreign migrant workers remain stranded, waiting for their respective governments to arrange their repatriation.
Now, Western countries have offered help. The Border Guard Force (BGF), which controls Myawaddy, has urged Thailand to process and allow these workers to cross the border.
Some nations, including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and India, are repatriating their citizens. China has been arranging charter flights to bring its people home. Over the past few weeks, Thailand-China-Myanmar cooperation has shut down several scam call centres and saved 7,000 workers, including 260 foreigners, in early February.
Now, the focus will shift to the country's eastern front along the Surin-Banteay Meanchey border, where new scam call centres have been spotted.
In the deep South, Thaksin last week was on a charm offensive. He apologised for the Tak Bai massacre in Narathiwat in 2004 during his premiership and reiterated his desire to make progress on the current peace talks. A series of bombings greeted him in Yala and at Narathiwat airport as his plane was about to land. He called it a symbolic act, but it also showed that his presence did not sit well with some of the locals.
Back to Mr Phumtham's press conference, where he presented photographs of repatriated Uyghurs reuniting with their families, emphasising that Thailand had acted following international standards. The images also showed National Security Council Secretary-General Chatchai Bangchuad, who had flown to China a day earlier, among the reunited families.
Thailand learned valuable lessons from the Abhisit government when it repatriated thousands of Hmong refugees to Laos in 2009. The country was strongly condemned for its actions, even though the returnees' safety was guaranteed.
This time, the government wanted to tie up loose ends -- only a small group of cabinet members knew about the Uyghur decision, with a media blackout.
On Thursday, Ms Paetongtarn revealed that Beijing would allow periodic visits from Thai representatives to verify the Uyghur returnees' wellbeing. "We would not have returned them to China if we had not been confident about their safety," she said.
Furthermore, a joint note guaranteeing their safety was signed by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. Thailand needed such an assurance in black and white.
Like in 2009, the repatriation of the Uyghurs has sparked global condemnation. Human rights groups and Western governments have expressed alarm, especially as the action came after Bangkok assumed its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in January. Local and international critics slammed Thailand's decision, arguing that it violated international norms.
Mr Phumtham defended his government's actions, stating that no third country had come forward over the past 11 years to accept the Uyghurs. Thailand, he added, had approached both the US and the EU, but to no avail.
Beyond Southeast Asia, broader global shifts are complicating Thailand's diplomatic manoeuvrability. Condemnations from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the EU were strong over the Uyghur repatriation.
In the coming days, there could be unpredictable consequences. Both the US and Japan have warned their citizens of possible terrorist attacks if they travel to Thailand. In August 2015, a month after the deportation of 109 Uyghurs, a bombing at the Erawan Shrine killed 20 people.
When viewed together, these developments -- Thailand's military engagements with the US, its diplomatic dealings with China, its response to the crisis in Myanmar, and the broader geopolitical unpredictability -- paint a picture of a country performing a diplomatic "Houdini" act.
With Thaksin's mega-power looming large in every dimension of the Paetongtarn government, the country's external relations have been conducted improvisationally, as Thaksin sees fit. That is why the country is now juggling conflicting priorities. Thailand's role in the region and the world is at stake. Will Thaksin's maverick behaviour save or sink Thailand?