Jakarta (ANTARA) – Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday said ASEAN is at a crossroads, with the choices it makes today determining whether the regional bloc can continue shaping its own future.
“I believe ASEAN now stands at a crossroads. The choices we make today will determine whether ASEAN continues to shape its own future and remains a trusted and constructive force in the regional and global landscape,” Anutin said during his first visit to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
The Thai prime minister said ASEAN now faces a world very different from the one in which it was founded in 1967.
At that time, Southeast Asia was marked by conflict, distrust, and rivalry. However, ASEAN’s founders came together with the conviction that peace begins when people choose dialogue over division and cooperation over confrontation, he said.
Fifty-nine years after ASEAN was established, Anutin said the pressures facing the regional bloc have become increasingly interconnected and now reach deeper into the economies and societies of its member states.
He said strategic competition now shapes trade, investment, technology, and supply chains, while conflicts in the Middle East can disrupt energy supplies and drive up costs across the region.
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The Thai prime minister also highlighted the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). While AI can drive economic growth, it can also enable criminal networks to operate more quickly across borders, he said.
“These are regional challenges that demand regional answers,” Anutin said.
Facing those challenges, ASEAN must strengthen itself from within to withstand external pressures while preserving its strategic choices and diversifying its engagement with the wider world, he said.
“That means deeper integration, stronger institutions, and wider partnerships,” he said.
Anutin’s visit marked the first by a Thai prime minister to the ASEAN Secretariat since 2009. Before visiting the Secretariat, he addressed the Thailand-Indonesia Business Forum.
The Thai prime minister arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta on Monday afternoon to begin his two-day official visit to Indonesia.
The visit is Anutin’s first official trip to Indonesia since taking office as Thailand’s 32nd prime minister in September 2025. It is also the first official visit to Indonesia by a Thai prime minister in 15 years.
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Reporter: Kuntum Khaira Riswan
Editor: Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak
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