Ekaphop revealed that the Prime Minister is preparing to propose three approaches to elevate ASEAN's work at the meeting in the Philippines, focusing on ensuring continuity, expanding economic cooperation, and enhancing agility in driving regional progress.
On 14 November 2026 at 07:30, Ekaphop Pianpiset, the spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, announced that Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul is scheduled to attend the 49th ASEAN Summit and related summits from 14 to 18 November 2026 in Manila, Republic of the Philippines. This important forum allows ASEAN member state leaders to discuss regional cooperation directions and hold talks with dialogue partners and international organizations to promote economic cooperation, security, and joint responses to shared challenges.
For this summit, the Prime Minister will focus on promoting three key approaches to improve ASEAN’s efficiency:
First, ensuring continuity in ASEAN's operations by proposing that the current ASEAN chair, the previous year’s chair, and the upcoming chair work closely together. This will allow key ASEAN initiatives to proceed smoothly without disruption from annual leadership changes and enable concrete follow-up on progress.
Second, expanding intra-ASEAN economic cooperation to increase trade and investment value among member states, which still have significant growth potential. This aims to strengthen the regional economy, reduce trade barriers, and offer Thai businesses and entrepreneurs better access to ASEAN markets and supply chains.
Third, enhancing the agility of ASEAN cooperation by allowing member countries that are ready to start collaboration on various issues ahead of others, while supporting members with limitations to join later. This approach will help ASEAN respond more quickly to global changes while maintaining unity and considering shared member interests.
Additionally, the Prime Minister plans to attend meetings with dialogue partners and international organizations such as China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, the United States, and the United Nations to promote cooperation in economics, trade, investment, technology, and regional security. He will emphasize ASEAN's role in coordinating cooperation among countries, especially uniting medium and small nations to enhance their role in addressing global challenges, consistent with his statements at the UN General Assembly in September.
The spokesperson added that Thailand has a geographic advantage that connects the economies, trade, and transport of ASEAN members and countries outside the region along north-south and east-west routes. The government aims to leverage this potential to strengthen Thailand's role as a regional economic hub, attract investment, expand export markets, and create economic opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs and citizens.
The Prime Minister's participation in the summit is a valuable opportunity to meet directly with other leaders to exchange policy views, monitor progress, and promote beneficial cooperation for Thailand, especially as the region faces geopolitical challenges and global economic volatility.
“This summit is a key opportunity for Thailand to help shape ASEAN’s future direction toward greater continuity, agility, and strength. It also provides a platform for high-level discussions to strengthen ties with various countries and push for tangible cooperation outcomes, including expanded trade and investment opportunities and long-term benefits for the Thai people.”