UK pivot could be good for Thais

This weekend the UK’s HMS Richmond has entered Thai territorial waters to conduct a joint military exercise with the Royal Thai Navy. It represents the first visit of a Royal Navy ship to Thailand since HMS Daring visited in 2014. Notably, it is the first engagement of the UK Carrier Strike Group with an Asean nation as part of the UK government’s commitment to becoming “a persistent, credible and reliable presence in the Indo-Pacific”.

To that end, the long overdue publication of a UK Indo-Pacific strategy could strengthen the UK government’s definition of Global Britain, a term much touted much by officials in attempts to sketch out a vision of a post-Brexit landscape that aligns with its sea-faring empirical history and present need for productive and profitable collaboration in new markets.

The visit is further evidence of…