Mr. Kitirat Panupong
First Secretary, Royal Thai Embassy, Canberra
Guest Speaker at
The Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin
7 June 2012

“Asia’s where the action is, so wake up Australia!”
Matt Wade (SMH Easter Weekend Edition 2011):
“Several Asian economies that now receive passing attention in Australia will become major economic players. By 2050, some forecasts say, the six biggest members of
ASEAN – Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – will have a similar share of the global output to
Europe’s big four – Germany, France, Italy and Britain.”

Thailand = regional / geographical hub
4

• The diplomatic relations between Thailand &
Australia were established on 19 Dec 1952
=> 60 th Anniversary in 2012
• The Royal Thai Embassy in Canberra
• The Royal Thai Consulate General in Sydney
• 4 Honorary Consulate Generals in Adelaide,
Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart and 1 Honorary
Consulate in Perth
• The Australian Embassy in Bangkok
(5th largest in the world)

Australia-Thailand Security Cooperation
• Thailand is the biggest international partner of
Australian Federal Police (AFP)
– Bomb Data Centre
• Australia is Thailand’s second largest partner in military cooperation
• Australia-Thailand Regional Security Dialogue
(annually, since 1998)
• Close partnership in various regional / multilateral fora:
– East Asian Summit (EAS) / ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
– Bali Process (people smuggling and trafficking)
– Counter-international terrorism
– Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism
6

• Australia is Thailand’s first comprehensive bilateral FTA partner
• Thailand is 1 of 5 countries with bilateral FTA with Australia (New Zealand, Singapore,
Thailand, USA, and Chile)
• According to a survey by the Australian
Industry Group in 2010, TAFTA was ranked as the most beneficial FTA through the eyes of
Australian businesspeople.

(Million USD)
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Value of Trade
Thailand's
Export to
Australia
7,944.68 10,333.68 13,147.28 12,404.10 15,277.62 15,942.23
4,722.64
6,629.49
7,982.57
8,578.63
9,369.47
7,997.08
Thailand's
Imports from
Australia
Trade Balance:
Surplus for TH
3,222.04
3,704.19
5,164.72
3,825.47
5,908.15
7,945.15
1,500.60
2,925.31
2,817.85
4,753.16
3,461.33
51.93
• Since TAFTA’s enter into force (2005), bilateral trade volumes have increased continuously/significantly.
• In 2011, Australia was Thailand’s # 6 largest trading partner while Thailand was Australia’s # 9 largest trading partner.

ที่มา: Trade at a glance 2011, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
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ที่มา: Trade at a glance 2011, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
10

• Key imports from
Thailand to Australia: o Gold & jewellery o Automobiles incl. light trucks & parts o Heating and cooling equipments & parts o Computers & parts o Processed seafood
• Key imports from
Australia to Thailand o Gold / Precious Stones o Aluminium / Copper o Coal / Crude oil o Iron / Steel o Pharmaceutical products o Wheat / cereals o Wine !!!

Australian Investment Projects
(1997-2009)
• Total number of projects approved by
Thailand’s Board Of Investment (BOI) was
147 projects valued at 1 billion AUD (approx.)

Key Australian Investors in Thailand and LinFox, Kingsgate, PanAust, etc.

• Thailand welcomes Australian investment particularly in the following sectors: Renewable energy, Bio-technology, Automotives / parts,
Logistics, etc.
• Thailand’s outbound investment strategy focuses on the following sectors: processed food, mining, construction, tourism-related industry including hotels, etc

• Increasing trend of Thai investment in Australia:
– PTTEP Australasia (oil & gas)
– Banpu’s investment on Centennial Coal
– Ratchaburi Holding’s investment on electricity generation plant
(coal, wind and solar)
– Mitrpol’s investment on Maryborough Sugar Plant
– Minor Group: Oak service apartment / Coffee Club
– Carry Boy (customized utility vehicle / light truck)
– Siam Steel International
• Total value of Thai investment in Australia is 2-3 times more than Australian investment in Thailand.

Total number of Thai Expats / Thai restaurant in Australia
State
New South Wales
Victoria
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Western Australia
ACT
Northern Territory
Total (Approx.)
# of Thai Expats # of Thai Restaurant
25,000 1,000
18,000
8,000
400
360
5,000
500
10,000
700
1,000
65,000
85
15
100
40
10
2,100

2010
156,193
93,386
31’427
22,414
20,103
• Australia was #1 destination for Thai students studying abroad, but strong AUD !!!
• Thai students in Australia ranked #6 in 2010 with
22,414 students, barely surpassed by Vietnam /
Malaysia.

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) = 10 countries, with total population of almost 600 million people and total GDP of
1 trillion USD
• Thailand = regional / transportation hub, linking Indochina, southern China and South
Asia (India) with the rest of southeast Asia
• Thailand = ASEAN’s regional HQ for various
IOs and MNCs

Thailand’s central position in ASEAN
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Dawai: Myanmar’s new deep sea port

• Blueprints for
– ASEAN Political Community
– ASEAN Economic Community
– ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community

• ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM)
• ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM)
• ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
• Defence
• Law
• Transnational Crime

ASEAN Economic Community
• ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)
• ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)
• Energy
• Food, Agriculture & Forestry
• Finance
• Investment
• Minerals
• Mekong Basin Development Cooperation
• Transport
• Telecommunication & IT
• Tourism
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• Culture & Arts
• Disaster
Management
• Education
• Environment
• Haze
• Health
• Information
• Labour
• Rural Development &
Poverty Eradication
• Science & Technology
• Social Welfare &
Development
• Women
• Youth

• ASEAN’s oldest Dialogue Partner
• An active member of ARF
• ASEAN-Aus-NZ FTA
• Expansion of EAS to include the US and Russia = Asia
Pacific Community (APC) ?
– Hoped to become a forum for leaders of all key players in the region to discuss global / relevant issues
– Opportunity for Australia to push for further discussion on political and security matters, such as Maritime Security,
Non-Proliferation, Disaster Management, Trans-National
Crime, Terrorism, Climate Change, etc.

Official Visit to Australia by
H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Thai PM
26-29 May 2012
• Friendly and wide range of topic discussion
• PM accompanied by 4 Ministers (Foreign
Affairs, Commerce, Education, and Industry)
• PM accompanied by 70 business delegation
• 2 MOUs signed:
– Education
– Young Political Exchange

Official Visit to Australia by
H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Thai PM
26-29 May 2012
• Strategic economic / business partnership
– Agriculture / Food industries (Food Security)
– Energy (Energy Security)
– Automotive and parts
– Tourism / hospitality & related services
– Logistics
• Strengthen people-to-people interaction and understanding
– Education: esp. promote Australians to study in Thailand
– Strengthen Thai communities in Australia

• Australia’s “Asia Literacy” will need to expand beyond China, Japan, and Indonesia, but to include ASEAN as a whole.
• Australia’s preparation / repositioning to take advantage of the ASEAN Community ???
• Thailand as Australia’s key ally and strategic partner !!!
• A need for Thai Studies in Australia.

• For further information, including the results of the recent official visit: http://canberra.thaiembassy.org/
• Thank you very much !!!