Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin declared that economic growth and strengthening democracy are his government's top priorities, in an address to a gathering of global business leaders and investors at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week.

In the first appearance of a Thai prime minister at the Forum in 12 years, Prime Minister Srettha said he would be willing to work with anyone on the goal of deepening Thailand's integration in the global arena. WEF founder Klaus Schwab made a point of welcoming Thailand back to Davos and said it is a positive sign for the Thai economy.

The Kingdom is viewed as a leader in ASEAN, but the previous decade of sometimes turbulent domestic politics had left some global partners waiting to see the direction the country would take.

With that decade fading further into the past, Prime Minister Srettha said the time has come to deepen Thailand's global engagements. In particular, he focused on firming up bonds in business and economics by touting Thailand's consistently business-friendly policies, increasing aptitude in advanced industries, and opportunities for infrastructure investment.

Among the business heavyweights Prime Minister Srettha met with were Microsoft Founder Bill Gates and Bank of America President Bernard Mensah.

"My hope is to have a mega company invest and open a data center in Thailand, to make Thailand a regional data center," Prime Minister Srettha wrote on social media platform X. "Therefore, I would not miss an opportunity to present to Bill Gates Thailand's potential and the possibility of opening a Microsoft data center in Thailand."

The prime minister also pitched the Kingdom's southern land bridge, the massive road and rail project that will link Thailand's Indian Ocean coast and its Gulf of Thailand/Pacific Ocean coast, creating an alternative for shippers to traveling around the Malacca Straits.

Photo courtesy of https://tna.mcot.net/