Diplomacy is no longer confined to diplomats and politicians. Increasingly, and for better or worse, people-to-people relations shape ties between two nations. It is not just face-to-face contact, but the use of social media that shapes the trajectory relations between two nations.
Two examples are apparent in Thailand: relations with Cambodia, and China.
The toxic tensions between Thailand and Cambodia are at least a year old, if not longer. They have left both governments needing to ensure that they are not seen as too soft on the other country following two brief undeclared wars last year. This, unfortunately, means that any normalisation of relations between Thailand and Cambodia is partly dictated by angry netizens in both countries.
As it stands, many social media users in both countries have been hurling hate speech—and even dehumanising speech—at one another on a daily basis.
Another “diplomatic stage” this week saw the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok come under heavy criticism by nationalist Thai social media users for issuing a statement that, rightly or wrongly, Thai netizens interpreted as both unfair and arrogant.
This came after a physical altercation between a Chinese woman and a female security guard at a Bangkok fan meet sparked an online uproar in both Thailand and China. The Chinese Embassy in Thailand called on the Thai authorities to investigate, but failed to acknowledge that the Chinese woman had first assaulted a Thai security guard, following her lengthy refusal to accept that she had jumped the queue. This was quickly followed by Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow ordering a probe, further fuelling rage among Thais who perceive the Chinese Embassy as behaving as if it can tell the Thai government whatever it likes while the Thai government complies subserviently.
The Chinese Embassy’s statement never acknowledged that the Chinese woman in the orange shirt had jumped the queue and then kicked a Thai security guard. Nor did it include any apology or expression of regret over the woman’s behaviour.
Instead, the embassy reached a swift conclusion on this case, in stark contrast to its stalling over issues such as the toxic pollution in the Kok River, the “fake Thai children” controversy, and the many “grey Chinese” cases that have become almost daily news. Furthermore, the Chinese ambassador previously urged Thais to stop using the term “grey Chinese”.
Many Thais are already concerned that China may be attempting to turn Thailand into a de facto tributary state in which Beijing can directly interfere in matters it cares about. Recent examples include alleged attempts to pressure Thai media into censoring masks depicting President Xi Jinping worn by Thai protesters over the Kok River contamination, as well as efforts to pressure Thai organisers of a Taiwan film festival to remove the name of Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture from promotional materials, without going through Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
These concerns have been reinforced by what many perceive as the Thai government’s unusually deferential approach to China. The Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, once even volunteered to drive China’s foreign minister Wang Yi to lunch, despite diplomatic protocol, which would normally place Thailand’s own foreign minister—an official of equivalent rank—in that role. Notably, no similar gesture appears to have been made for the foreign ministers of other countries.
Most recently, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow promptly ordered an investigation into the incident involving the Chinese woman in the orange shirt following the Chinese Embassy’s request. Yet when it came to the far more serious issue of toxic pollution in the Kok River, which affects hundreds of thousands of people in Thailand, Prime Minister Anutin did not even raise the matter with President Xi Jinping during his official visit to China earlier this month.
Consequently, angry attacks were unleashed on the Facebook page of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok. As of Thursday morning—two days after the statement was issued—the post had attracted over 14,000 comments, mostly critical, if not outright anti-China.
Ugly stereotypes surfaced on both sides. Some Chinese X users portrayed Thais as wild monkeys, a nation of mongrels and beggars, extending that view to the Thai government, which they accused of being overly subservient to Beijing.
That raises a legitimate question: has the Anutin government become too eager to kowtow to China’s leaders? Or has Anutin forgotten that he no longer works as a construction contractor, as he did before entering politics, but as Thailand’s head of government, with a duty to uphold the country’s dignity and national honour?
Meanwhile, a few Chinese netizens were outraged that some Thai netizens brought up the Nanjing Massacre and Unit 731, the Japanese Imperial Army unit notorious for conducting cruel and inhumane medical experiments on Chinese captives.
“This is an indelible wound in every Chinese person’s heart! Unforgivable,” Chinese X account user @jenna_lovely tweeted to me on Wednesday.
Any hate speech employed by Thai or Chinese netizens must be denounced and condemned. We must also take stock and recognise that Sino-Thai relations have entered uncharted and fragile territory that calls for restraint and common sense on both sides before the situation becomes too difficult to salvage.