U.S.-China Rivalry For Thailand | Scoop News

NONG KHAI, Thailand — You can see China’s inexorable
southern thrust along the Mekong River where tall, fanciful,
Chinese buildings sprout nearby on the Laos side of this
sleepy northern border, sparking hopes and fears about
Beijing’s influence and intent in Thailand.

The
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief’s recent visit to
Bangkok amid a flurry of lucrative U.S. military and
business deals, may lure Thailand to favor the U.S. and not
China in the future, but the rivalry is heating
up.

“Thailand has been leaning toward China, and away
from the U.S., for two decades,” said Benjamin Zawacki,
Bangkok-based American author of “Thailand: Shifting Ground
Between the U.S. and a Rising China.”

“In the military
sphere, relations with the U.S. are arguably still deeper,
but the…