Feature: Thai researcher staunch supporter of economic cooperation with China

BANGKOK, April 22 (Xinhua) -- When Surasit Thanadtang was questioned by a CNN reporter, a Chinese technology skeptic, why Thailand should introduce China's high-speed rail technology in 2012, his early experience of learning at China's National University of Defense Technology gave him enough confidence to answer.

Thanadtang used to live in China for many years, and "people (are) quite surprised, with what they see now. Time has proven, and they can (now) agree with me," Thanadtang said.

Thanadtang, 61, director of the Thai-Chinese Strategic Research Center (TCSRC) under the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), has an indissoluble bond with China and has pushed forward China-Thailand cooperation at several critical moments.

His interest in the collaboration between China and Thailand began seven years ago, when he organized a seminar for the National Defense College of Thailand where he served as the president.

Thanadtang's speech at the seminar played a key role in the later success of the railway cooperation between China and Thailand.

Actually, Thanadtang's confidence in China started from the Asian financial crisis many years ago. In 1997, Thailand was one of the first to suffer and the contagion spread rapidly, but China remained immune, thanks to its government's prudent and steady financial and monetary policies.

After retirement from the army in 2017, Thanadtang joined the NRCT, the country's only official think tank, which is composed of 12 disciplinary committees and a national research center, and is supervised directly by the prime minister.

The TCSRC that he heads is exploring ways to align Thai interests with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

To that end, Thanadtang has become a frequent visitor to the Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone, which is about two hours' drive from downtown Bangkok, and where more than 120 Chinese enterprises have set up their branches.

Trinasolar is headquartered in east China. Thais make up 90 percent of the 1,300-strong work force at the factory. Each year it produces photovoltaic modules and arrays capable of generating over 1,500 megawatts.

"When we learned about the Belt and Road Initiative, green development, it (is) not (yet) the Thai direction, but it's really global direction. We have to think what really (is) the most important green energy, so we are focusing," he said.

Thanadtang has sent his 31-year-old son Supaket to China's University of International Business and Economics for PhD studies in e-commerce.

"I want him to be a seed of the diplomatic exchange," he said.

Every time his son returns home for vacation, Thanadtang takes him out on field research. When they visited a warehouse of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com in Bangkok, they were impressed by its plan for for fully automated operations.

The warehouse began operations in September 2018. It covers more than 20,000 square meters, stocking consumer goods and electronic products.

JD.com is building the most efficient e-commerce platform in Thailand. Its 1,500 square meter floor area will soon see the first batch of trackless navigation warehouse robots.

"How could we apply the module of development of JD(.com) to Thai companies, the management, e-commerce and also the innovation that they will invest in this field," Thanadtang said.

Thanadtang has obtained large amounts of primary data from his field research. For two years, he has been submitting monthly internal reports to the prime minister, and introducing Chinese think-tanks' practices.

In his Report on Development of Chinese Enterprises, he suggests that Thailand learns from China's experience and technologies in green energy. In March, he arranged for the Thai publication of Key Words to Understand China: the Belt and Road Initiative.

With Thanadtang's advice, the Thai government has fully aligned itself with the BRI, while introducing its own strategy called "Thailand 4.0," which is aimed at pulling Thailand out of the middle-income trap and pushing the country into the high-income range by innovation and application of new technology in manufacturing.

Thanadtang is looking forward to seeing the benefits the BRI will bring.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is not only the strategy to work peacefully with any country but also the platform to develop together," he said.