Western powers are moving to counter China’s expansionism in the region with the Quad pact in 2017 and the AUKUS military alliance between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia in September last year which is seen as a significant escalation of efforts to address the threat the Communist Party-led country poses to stability in the Indo Pacific. In past decades, Thailand was at the forefront of such efforts as a key US ally. The question today is the role Thailand will play in this new cold war between an even more powerful China and an increasingly assertive and bolder United States determined to re-establish its position in the region in what it sees as an effort to preserve peace but which China views as a last gasp attempt to reimpose American hegemony and old fashioned colonialism over a part of the world that wants to go its own wa ...