Relationship dossier
Australia
Thailand
Relationship assessment
Sustained trade and strategic cooperation, alongside past strain over Thailand’s 2014 coup
Australia toward Thailand
+30Australia established a free trade agreement with Thailand and later developed a bilateral strategic partnership. Following Thailand’s 2014 coup, Australia condemned the takeover and restricted some cooperation, creating a period of bilateral strain.
Thailand toward Australia
+35Thailand entered the Thailand–Australia Free Trade Agreement and joined Australia in developing a bilateral strategic partnership, providing durable frameworks for economic and strategic engagement.
Overall relationship
+30The relationship is underpinned by a long-running free trade agreement and a later strategic partnership, while Australia’s response to Thailand’s 2014 coup marked a significant episode of strain. These enduring cooperative arrangements and the historical disruption characterize a relationship with substantial engagement but some political friction.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Australia and Thailand maintain a sustained economic and strategic relationship, including the Thailand–Australia Free Trade Agreement and a bilateral strategic partnership. Relations have also experienced strain: after Thailand’s 2014 coup, Australia condemned the takeover and restricted some cooperation. The later partnership reflects substantial ongoing engagement alongside that period of tension.
Areas of tension
- Australia’s condemnation of Thailand’s 2014 coup and restrictions on some cooperation.
Key developments
The Thailand–Australia Free Trade Agreement entered into force.
Australia condemned Thailand’s coup and restricted some cooperation.
Australia and Thailand established a bilateral strategic partnership.
Major uncertainties
- The present scope and implementation of bilateral defence and security cooperation are unclear.
- The extent to which the 2014 restrictions affected longer-term cooperation is uncertain.