Just halfway through September, there was a lot of waves in Thailand's political arena. As soon as the new Prime Minister Anutin pressed his hand on the Constitution and took the oath, he quickly promoted a military exercise. The venue was chosen in Thailand, and the participants were China. The movement was not small, and the scale was not small.
The most eye-catching thing is that this time not only the plane wandered in the sky, but also the ground troops of the People's Liberation Army drove directly into Thailand. This is not a simple military exchange, but a real upgrade of cooperation.
The new leader just took office and made such a big move with China, what is behind the picture?Why did China send heavy troops at this time?
Air-ground linkage, Chinese troops participated in cross-border training for the first time
The joint military exercise "Hawk Shot 2025" is a major escalation in the cooperation between the two armies over the years, unlike previously staying only at the air force level, this time the ground forces were also pulled in.
In other words, not only fighter jets in the sky, this time even air defense missile forces entered Thailand, such an arrangement, in the past never appeared.
From the perspective of the exercise content, the whole process is not going by the field, but there is a practical subject arrangement, air confrontation, co-operative warfare, air defense anti-missile, anti-terrorism exercises.
The focus of the training is on inter-military synergies, that is, the air force and ground forces should work together to see who can react faster, who can strike more accurately, this method of training is more like going to real battle, not engaging in ceremonies.
More interestingly, this exercise also embodies a new way of thinking, which is no longer a single soldier fight, but a multi-soldier fight together, simulating real combat cooperation.
The equipment sent by China includes advanced fighter jets and transport aircraft, as well as ground air defense systems, while Thailand mobilized its main air force to conduct confrontation drills with China.
This kind of "you come and me go" interaction is actually a test of whether the two sides can really cooperate seamlessly. After all, when there is a real fight, it's not you hitting yours and I hitting mine, but a rope.
Therefore, the joint training was not only a superficial thrill, but also a practical action to break down technical and tactical barriers, while China's ground forces can enter Thailand, also illustrates a problem, the mutual military trust between the two sides has reached a new height.
Without enough confidence and tacitness, let’s not say the army came in, even the joint exercises would be difficult to do so smoothly.
Anastasia ran slowly and calculated well behind her.
Anutin took this out as soon as he came to power, and it was not without reason, first to speak about the situation in front of him.
Although he successfully became prime minister, his party didn't speak much in Congress. If he wanted to promote policies, he had to win over the support of all parties. At this time, it was a normal choice to make a big move to stabilize the situation.
Anutin himself is Chinese, and his relationship with China has been good, and before he took office, he has repeatedly publicly stated that he wants to strengthen cooperation with China, and this military exercise can advance so quickly that it is clear that it is impossible to separate from his personal attitude.
More importantly, he needs to give a signal in this way at home and abroad that the new government has the capability, the handshake, and the determination to stabilize the country’s situation.
In addition to political considerations, there are also practical pressures. Thailand's economy has been sluggish in recent years, and it is no longer enough to rely on traditional industries. Although the tourism industry is picking up, the recovery speed is slow and the financial pressure is high.
At this time, if we can drive infrastructure construction, investment, tourism and other areas by strengthening foreign cooperation, especially with China, it is undoubtedly an additional item for the government.
On the security side, Thailand itself also has a lot of pressure, there are frequent clashes on the southern border, and the border with Cambodia is not peaceful in the east.
During the military exercises, Anutin also wanted to use China’s strength to raise the country’s response capabilities and level of response to threats.
Therefore, for him, this military exercise is not only a symbol of friendship with China, but also a win-win operation to stabilize the political situation, attract public opinion and control the situation.
Internally, he stabilized the confidence of the army and the people, and externally, he released the sincerity of cooperation to China, and also showed Thailand's new attitude in the region.
Not just exercises, but also new signals for regional security.
From a military point of view, this joint training between China and Thailand is indeed an upgrade, but if we only regard it as an exercise, we will underestimate its influence.
In essence, this is actually an important step in China's regional security layout, and it is also a clear position made by Thailand in its diplomatic strategy.
China has been pushing for years in Southeast Asia, not only economic cooperation, but also security cooperation, and the way it uses is not the traditional "big powers pressing small countries."
Instead, through joint training, equipment cooperation, strategic exchanges, and other ways, their influence is gradually penetrated into the regional security system, which is not hard, does not conflict, but the effect is real.
As a member of ASEAN, Thailand is a relatively neutral existence in the whole region. In the past, it was more flexible among big countries such as China and the United States, but now the situation has changed.
On the one hand, the presence of the United States in Southeast Asia is declining, and on the other hand, China's economic and security attractiveness is increasing. Therefore, Thailand is now more willing to choose a "reliable" partner rather than being in a dilemma between many parties.
More importantly, during Anutin's appointment, Thailand happened to be the rotating chairman of ASEAN, which means that it has more say in promoting regional security cooperation and policy coordination.
This joint training between China and Thailand, if it works well, is likely to become a template for security cooperation within ASEAN.
In other words, this is not only a matter for China and Thailand, but may drive the whole Southeast Asian countries to rethink their security strategies.
If this "cooperative security" model is accepted by more countries, then China's influence in the whole region will be more difficult to shake.
From China's point of view, such cooperation is also a way of "going global", not relying on military bases, but relying on cooperation mechanisms to make neighboring countries more willing to deal with themselves.
This method is not easy to trigger external interference, nor will it make surrounding countries alert, a rather soft layout.
This exercise seems to be bustling, in fact, behind it is a multi-game game, for Thailand, it is a strategic layout of both domestic and external consideration; for China, it is another substantial advance of regional influence.
For Southeast Asia as a whole, this may be an inflection point in the regional security cooperation model.
No one can say what will happen in the future, but it is certain that this joint training between China and Thailand is not just a simple military cooperation, but a deep-ranging strategic interaction.
reference
In mid-September, China-Thailand will hold a joint air force exercise "Oak Shot 2025".
2025-09-15 13: 19 · Observer.com