India and Thailand, located in each other’s extended neighbourhood, share unique civilizational links going back several millennia. The shared link of Buddhism is reflected in regular pilgrimages to places of Buddhist interest in India by a large number of Thai people. Hindu elements can be found among those reflected in Thai architecture, arts, sculpture, dance, drama and literature. The Thai language incorporates Pali and Sanskrit influences. A large Indian Diaspora living and working in Thailand is another important bond.

Over the past two decades India’s ‘Look East’ policy has been complemented by Thailand’s ‘Look West’ policy in bringing the two countries closer.

India on august 30, 2004 took the first step towards a free trade area (FTA) with Thailand by concluding a protocol to implement one of the facets of the framework agreement on FTA. The protocol is meant to implement the Early Harvest Scheme (EHS) which provides for fast track elimination of tariffs on common items of export interest for both the countries.

Both countries are important regional partners linking South and Southeast Asia. They cooperate closely in the ASEAN, East Asia Summit (EAS) and BIMSTEC groupings as well as in Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD).

The implementation of the India-AESAN Agreement on Trade in Goods from January 2010 and completion of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement process is an important milestone of the India-ASEAN strategic partnership.

Security and Defence:

With a nearly 1,000-kilometre common maritime border in the Andaman Sea, our navies cooperate closely through joint naval exercises to help curb piracy and other forms of seaborne transnational crimes. Both share common views that international sea-lanes must be freely accessed and safety guaranteed. India also has pledged to improve the capacity of Thailand's coast guards.

A bilateral MOU on Defence cooperation was signed in January 2012. The third meeting of India-Thailand Defence Dialogue was held in Bangkok in February 2014. The current Defence cooperation comprises regular joint exercises/joint maritime patrols near the international maritime boundary to counter terrorism, piracy and smuggling; training of officers at each other’s Armed Forces Training institutions and participation as observers in military exercises.

Trade

The last few years have seen a rapid growth in bilateral trade, which crossed US$ 9 billion mark in year 2012-13. The Framework Agreement on India-Thailand FTA was signed in Bangkok in October 2003 and the second protocol to amend it was signed during the visit of Thai PM to New Delhi in January 2012.

It is estimated that there are between 150,000 -200,000 people of Indian origin in Thailand. Many of them have lived here for several generations over the past century. Majority of them hold Thai nationality. The Indian community comes from different past of India and mainly comprises Sikhs, Punjabis, Gorakhpuris, Tamils and Sindhis.

An ambitious project to develop a 3,200-km highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand is underway. An ambitious project to develop a 3,200-km highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand so as to maximise the use of the highway for strengthening regional growth and integration.

THAILAND CRISIS

Brief History

• Thailand's politics have been in turmoil for years, driven in large part by a schism between populists, many of them rural and poor, and a largely urban middle class and elite in Bangkok partial to the nation's royal establishment.
• The current disruption has its roots in the 2006 military ouster of billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who built a strong political base with populist policies that appealed to rural villagers in Thailand's north.
• Thaksin's removal led to a broad-based opposition movement that came to a head with widespread demonstrations in parts of Bangkok in 2010. The military violently suppressed the protests, resulting in some 90 deaths.
• In 2011, Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, rode a wave of opposition votes into power.
• In 2013, Yingluck proposed legislation that would have granted amnesty to Thaksin and others. The move set off a new wave of protests and anger -- this time among Bangkok's urban elites and middle class sometimes known as "Yellow Shirts" -- who want an end to the involvement of Thaksin's family in Thai politics for good.
• In May, Thailand's Constitutional Court removed Yingluck and nine Cabinet ministers from office, saying she had violated the Thai Constitution by reassigning a senior security official in 2011.
• Populists known as "Red Shirts" saw her ouster as a "judicial coup" and have been protesting what they consider a bias by many of the country's institutions against their side.
• Things escalated May 2014 when three Yellow Shirt protesters died and 23 were injured after gunmen opened fire on a protest camp. The violence prompted an ominous warning from the army chief that troops would have to step in if the situation didn't calm down.
• On 20 May, the Royal Thai Army declared martial law throughout the nation, followed two days later by a coup which removed the government and placed General Prayuth Chan-ocha as acting prime minister. He his leadership and the rule of the new “National Council for Peace and Order” (NCPO). According to Prayuth, the move was necessary to end escalating protests that were part of a decade-long feud between opposing social movements.
• Thailand is no stranger to military coups. The military has attempted 19 coups in 80 years; 12 have been successful.

IMPACT OF THAI CRISIS

Known as the 'Detroit of the East,' Thailand has risen to become a vital manufacturing and assembly hub of hard-disk drives and automobiles for Japanese and Western firms".

The months of protests have already hurt Thailand's economy and run the risk of making the country less attractive to investors and governments looking to strike up deals, analysts said.

A stable Thailand is strategically important to as an anchor for mainland Southeast Asia

This trend in Thai politics does not bode well for Thailand’s ambition to be the center of cooperation and connectivity in Indochina linking with different countries and regions. It carries the potential to disrupt or damage any project Thailand collaborates with in other countries and seriously affect Thailand’s foreign relations at every level.

Thailand is a key country in ASEAN which occupies a significant geostrategic location in Asia and Southeast Asia. For major powers like the US, China, India and Japan, Thailand serves as a gateway for further economic and political engagement with Indochina. While engagement with the Thai government is necessary, it is equally important that the external actors avoid becoming a target of Thai public resentment. For now, there is no better way than keeping transparency and accountability in all projects and maintaining good will.

Lessons for democratic form of government

The upheaval in Thailand reveals a crisis in liberal democracy that is not particular to Thailand. Indeed, the crisis of democracy in Thailand may have implications for the future of democracies everywhere. Economic stagnation, political impasse and ecological destruction create a sense of urgency that is driving political opinions away from the center. The further people’s political positions diverge and the more intolerant they become of one another’s, the less likely they are to passively accept their opponents in national office. At the same time, the more divergent political opinions get, the harder it becomes to win national elections.