November 3, 2025

SEOUL – Thailand has long been one of South Korea’s key trading partners, maintaining strong economic ties since the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 2010. Now, Bangkok seeks to take the relationship a step further through the swift conclusion of a bilateral trade pact that could serve as a new pillar for cooperation.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Bangkok hopes to accelerate negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, saying the deal would help both countries achieve sustainable growth across advanced industries.

“To achieve our set goal of $30 billion trade volume, we should work collectively to facilitate investment, push for the early conclusion of the Thailand-South Korea comprehensive economic agreement, and explore other areas of mutually beneficial cooperation such as low-carbon society, clean energy and creative economy,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Herald.

According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, despite a 9.4 percent decline from a year earlier, bilateral trade between the two countries totaled about $14.9 billion in 2023, making South Korea Thailand’s 12th-largest trading partner and accounting for 2.6 percent of Thailand’s total trade. South Korea has maintained a trade surplus with Thailand since the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2010.

He said the CEPA would provide a framework to expand cooperation beyond traditional manufacturing into high-value sectors such as digital commerce and green technology.

Talks on the trade pact began as early as 2004 but had long been stalled due to differing priorities on market access and overlaps with broader multilateral frameworks such as the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Negotiations have since regained momentum as Bangkok seeks to diversify supply chains and attract more high-tech industries.

The latest round of formal talks took place in Seoul in late September 2025, which Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul described as a critical step toward transforming bilateral economic ties into a more comprehensive partnership.

A conservative politician, Anutin became prime minister in September, succeeding Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party, who was dismissed after the Constitutional Court ruled she had violated ethical standards.

Less than two months after taking office, the prime minister, known to be a pragmatic leader, signed a broader ceasefire deal with Cambodia on Oct. 26, with US President Donald Trump attending. He also attended the APEC summit in South Korea last week, where he held a summit with President Lee Jae Myung, defying earlier expectations that he would not due to a death in the Thai royal family.

During the summit, the two leaders agreed to strengthen mutually beneficial, forward-looking cooperation in areas such as defense and energy transition to further develop the strategic partnership between their countries.

Lee urged Anutin to give competitive South Korean companies opportunities to participate in Thailand’s defense projects. The leaders additionally pledged to encourage their respective teams to accelerate ongoing negotiations on a CEPA between the two nations.

As regional economies deepen digital connectivity, Anutin also stressed that economic progress must go hand in hand with digital safety — a growing concern across Southeast Asia. Seoul’s recent crackdown and repatriation of its citizens from scam centers in Cambodia, where job-offer schemes have led to detention, trafficking and even torture, has sounded an alarm throughout the region, exposing its vulnerability to cross-border cybercrime.

In this context, Anutin said Bangkok seeks closer cooperation with South Korea to curb such crimes, highlighting the importance of safeguarding digital trust in the region.

“Recognizing its profound and borderless impact, Thailand is committed to combating transnational crime,” he said.

“At this APEC summit, I have reaffirmed Thailand’s readiness to continue to cooperate closely and enhance our cooperation with South Korea and other economies in addressing this pressing issue.”

He added that Bangkok is taking a multilayered approach to fight online scams, combining domestic enforcement with international coordination.

“To follow up on our effort to highlight the importance of transnational crime as a global agenda, Thailand will host an international meeting on transnational crime to collectively work with our friends in and outside the Indo-Pacific region on this important issue,” he said.

In October, Thailand established the Steering Committee on Technology-Related Crimes to strengthen its response to cyber threats.

At the international level, the country has agreed to launch a joint task force with Cambodia to crack down on online scams and human trafficking, while cooperating with Myanmar and China to repatriate victims of telecommunication fraud who had been trapped in scam centers in Myanmar’s Myawaddy border region.

According to Anutin, Thailand’s broader strategy includes reinforcing regional and global partnerships by working with the United Nations and its Office on Drugs and Crime to tackle cross-border crimes, and with ASEAN, where it currently chairs the ASEAN Working Group on Anti-Online Scams to enhance collective action against cybercrime.

Describing Thailand as “a strategic gateway” to ASEAN’s 600 million consumers and a vital bridge to and among the Indo-Pacific region, the prime minister said Thailand is “driving sustainable and innovation-led growth through investments in advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, and green and digital technologies.”

With advanced infrastructure and a strong industrial base in the Eastern Economic Corridor, Thailand launched its flagship development project encompassing world-class ports, airports and rail links in 2017.

According to Anutin, the EEC project is central to supporting high-tech industries and logistics as part of the country’s long-term development plan. South Korea’s strengths in semiconductors, electric vehicles and green energy, he added, align closely with Thailand’s priorities in advanced electronics and sustainable industries.

“Together, our two countries are well positioned to strengthen regional and global supply chains while enhancing our competitiveness, innovation and long-term resilience,” he said.

Anutin said his visit to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit held last week in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, provided an opportunity to advance these discussions at a broader regional level.

“The APEC meetings came at a critical juncture when the world faces complex geopolitical tensions, supply chain shifts and rapid technological change,” he said.

He added that Thailand, as the host of the 2022 APEC summit, continues to align its national strategy with those principles, reaffirming its commitment to multilateralism, accelerating digital and AI-driven growth, and advancing the Bio-Circular-Green Economy, a key legacy of its host year.

The BCG framework, he said, remains central to Thailand’s long-term vision to foster a greener and more innovation-oriented Asia-Pacific.

“Through regulatory cooperation, capacity-building, and the promotion of open and fair trade and investment, Thai businesses — especially small and medium-sized enterprises and startups — can widen their access to regional markets, strengthen participation in global value chains, and enhance competitiveness,” he said.