Listen to this articleThailand must rethink its economic resilience strategies to respond to China's accelerating outward expansion, which presents both significant opportunities and growing risks for the Thai economy, experts said at a regional forum on Monday. Speakers broadly agreed that in an era defined by disruption, speed and scale, cooperation offers a more sustainable path for China, Asean and Thailand than direct competition. China's next five-year plan, expected to be announced in March, will prioritise frontier sectors such as quantum technology, nuclear energy, biotechnology, embodied artificial intelligence and 6G telecommunications. He warned that China's low-cost production capacity is already putting pressure on Thai small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in petrochemicals and cement. Given structural constraints such as an ageing population, high household debt and limited economic scale, regional cooperation is no longer optional, he said.
