AN ANALYSIS OF THAILAND'S ROLE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE

Abstract

The South China Sea dispute is the most complex island sovereignty and maritime jurisdiction dispute in the world, which seriously threatens regional security and stability. Countries directly concerned in the South China Sea dispute and countries not directly concerned in the South China Sea dispute have different priorities and different attitudes, positions and actions. As a non-party country, Thailand is one of the founding members and core countries of ASEAN，it actively develops relations with China, maintains "neutrality", opposes the internationalization

of south China Sea disputes, emphasizes the importance of trust mechanism, and plays a role of "coordinator", which is conducive to the coordination and control among disputing countries. However, Thailand advocates that ASEAN should form a common position and conduct group negotiation with China on the South China Sea issue, which will aggravate the aseanization of the South China Sea dispute.