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Non-Traditional Security, International Police Cooperation and the Royal Non-Traditional Security, International Police Cooperation and the Royal Thai Police Jessada Burinsuchat Strategic and Defence Studies Centre Australian National University Canberra A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University. December 2017 © Copyright by Jessada Burinsuchat 2017 All Rights Reserved This thesis is my own original work Jessada Burinsuchat Acknowledgements I would never have been able to finish this thesis without some of the people whom I wish to thank for their contribution to this project; the late Professor Desmond Ball, my first and unforgettable Chair of Panel, for his valuable guidance and great advice from the beginning of my PhD study; Dr John Blaxland, my current Chair of Panel, for his great effort in continuing superb supervision and I would not have finished this thesis without his wonderful coaching; Dr Greg Raymond and Dr Nicholas Farrelly, my Panel, for their great assistance in guiding and editing my drafts several times; the ANU and SDSC staff, for their ongoing technical and administration support. I would like to express my very special gratitude to the Australian Government for the Australian Leadership Award given to me. Without the scholarship, I would not have such a great opportunity to fund my PhD in this world class university. I would like to thank Police General Pansiri Prapawat, my former police boss, the Foreign Affairs Divisions and the Royal Thai Police colleagues, for their help in collecting the necessary data and providing a variety of support during my leave for this PhD study in Australia. I am particularly grateful for the enduring encouragement of my family and friends to whom I would like to express my special thanks again here; to my dad and mom, Uthai and Chaweewon Burinsuchat, for having coached and supported me in all walks of life; to my wife, Bee Panadda, together with my lovely daughter, Chada, who always inspire me to get through all difficulties with me; to a lot of good Thai and foreign friends who have assisted and encouraged me throughout this long PhD student Journey and I would like to make a special mention to the Ball family, Cam Hawker, Pasoot Lasuka, Olivia Cable, Raoul Heinrichs and many others, for their friendships and company in my great academic and life experience in Canberra. Last but not the least, I would like to apologise to many people whose names I do not mention here. Indeed, a lot of people who might have helped me more than the abovementioned names throughout writing this thesis and kindly supported my PhD study in general. I would acknowledge them in my heart forever. ii Abstract In recent years, the Royal Thai Police (RTP) has appeared to be more comfortable cooperating with China than with the United States. This phenomenon is evident in several non-traditional security (NTS) incidents involving the RTP’s cooperation, such as the 2011 Mekong 10.5 case, the 2012 terrorist attacks and the recent 2015 Erawan Shrine explosion in Bangkok. These incidents involved police cooperation against drug trafficking, terrorism and other serious crimes. Previous studies explain the RTP approach to cooperation in Thailand by examining driving factors such as great power influences, foreign relations and the RTP’s incompetence in police cooperation. However, no study has addressed the way Thailand and the RTP address NTS challenges and cooperate with foreign counterparts in meeting such challenges. This thesis explains the implications of the NTS agenda for the RTP’s approach to international police cooperation, and where it is inconsistent with the approaches of foreign counterparts. This research asks the question, “How does Thailand’s NTS agenda affect the RTP’s cooperation with foreign counterparts?”, which helps us to understand why the RTP had such inconsistent cooperative behaviour with foreign counterparts, particularly on NTS matters. The NTS agenda framework explains the RTP’s approach to cooperation. This study employs a wide range of primary and secondary sources to explain the existence and implementation of NTS governance arrangements. When studying how NTS challenges are managed in Thailand, this study argues that Thailand’s NTS agenda significantly influences the RTP’s approach to cooperation, generating a lack of consistency—either through eagerness or hesitation—in the RTP’s approach to cooperative behaviour. This inconsistency is a convenient response that happens to suit Thailand’s domestic preferences. The term “NTS” is increasingly used as a part of the political discourse, but gradually it has become a part of the security agenda, accepted by the international community. This security agenda influences Thailand and the RTP to manage both domestic and international security challenges, particularly, in light of the new security environment that emerged after the end of the Cold War era. iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. II ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ III TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... IV FIGURES .................................................................................................................. VII TABLES ................................................................................................................. VIII ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................ IX PART I: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 2 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 2 1.2 Puzzle and Research Question ................................................................................... 8 1.3 Literature review ........................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Significance of the study .......................................................................................... 20 1.5 Method, Framework and Scope ............................................................................... 21 1.6 Outline ...................................................................................................................... 31 1.7 Terminology ............................................................................................................. 35 PART II: CONTEXT ............................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 2: NTS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON NTS MATTERS ............. 40 2.1 Describing the term “NTS” and its distinctive features ........................................... 41 2.2 The implementation of the NTS concept and the NTS agenda ............................... 50 2.3 The implications of the NTS agenda for NTS cooperation ..................................... 58 2.4 Conclusion and Implications for this study ............................................................. 63 CHAPTER 3 INTERNATIONAL POLICE COOPERATION AND THE NTS AGENDA .......... 65 3.1 Defining police cooperation on NTS matters and cooperative behaviour ............... 65 3.2 Police cooperation on NTS matters ......................................................................... 71 3.3 How does the NTS agenda shape cooperative behaviour? ...................................... 78 3.4 Conclusion and Implications for this study ............................................................. 88 CHAPTER 4 THE THAI STATE AND THE ROYAL THAI POLICE ................................... 90 4.1 Thailand’s national security agenda ......................................................................... 91 4.2 The RTP’s relationship with the Thai state in security agenda ............................... 97 4.3 The RTP’s cooperation with international partners ............................................... 109 4.4 Conclusion and Implications for this study ........................................................... 119 iv PART III : FINDINGS .......................................................................................... 120 CHAPTER 5: THE NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY AGENDA IN THE THAI CONTEXT 121 5.1 Security challenges designated as “NTS” in Thailand .......................................... 122 5.2 The construction of the NTS agenda ..................................................................... 131 5.3 The actual practice of NTS construction in Thailand ............................................ 144 5.4 Conclusion and Implications for the research question ......................................... 156 CHAPTER 6: THAILAND’S APPROACH TO NTS COOPERATION ............................................. 159 6.1 Declining external threats ...................................................................................... 160 6.2 Increasing NTS cooperation in the regional context ............................................. 172 6.3 NTS cooperation that suits Thailand’s domestic preferences ............................... 185 6.4 Conclusion and Implications for the research question ......................................... 196 CHAPTER 7: THE RTP’S COOPERATION ON NTS MATTERS .................................
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