Comparisons have been made between North Korea and Thailand. Mostly this has revolved around the cult of personality and the king that seems so very Kim-like.More recently, comparisons have been made between the military dictatorship in Thailand and the dictatorship in North Korea.
The North Korean ambassador has become a regular visitor to to members of the junta and its puppets. Most recently, he has asked the military dictatorship to set up an embassy in Pyongyang.
Puppet Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam recently met the ambassador and said that it might happen but that there were several considerations.
NK News reports that “Thai telecommunications company Loxley Pacific is already involved with the Pyongyang based Star Joint Venture, and helps administer North Korea’s connection to the internet.” Geoffrey See, managing director at Choson Exchange told NK News that:
“Loxley’s Thai parent company is supposedly run by a very politically connected family in Thailand. The company is influential across commodities, consumer goods and telecoms in North Korea. Their involvement in the telecoms link, a sector notorious for regulation, speaks to their political connections”.
Loxley Pacific’s involvement in North Korea is in spite of poor trade relations “since the early 2000s, when North Korea defaulted on a $120 million rice debt.”
KCNA Watch shows a rising North Korean state media output on Thailand.
Economic cooperation between Thailand and North Korea has also been on the upswing since 2011. PPT reckons that the Koreans see plenty of opportunities with an economically naive and politically unsophisticated military dictatorship. Dictators do seem attracted by other dictators.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 