As China's ambitious Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and Maritime Silk Road (MSR) -- popularly known as the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI -- continues to make ripples and waves in international affairs, its likely impact on mainland Southeast Asia warrants attention. Unlike many of the countries on the Eurasian landmass and along waterways from the South China Sea through the Indian Ocean to eastern Africa, Thailand and its immediate neighbours are not directly on the BRI path.
While Vietnam is located near the MSR, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand -- the CLMT group of countries in mainland Southeast Asia -- are to be connected to the SREB through two of six corridors. One is the the Kunming rail link with a port in Kyaukpyu in Myanmar's southwest region of Rakhine state. Owing to Myanmar's terrain and internal conflicts, the Kunming-Kyaukpyu corridor has made little headway.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak teaches International Relations and directs the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
