Why it matters for Thais and Thailand to say no to the US-led rule of the jungle

2026-03-06 - 11:53

It has been 6 days since the deadly joint attack by the United States and Israel on Iran, followed by Iran’s retaliatory strikes against mostly American targets in half a dozen Gulf states and against Israel, as people around the world grapple with the economic and geopolitical repercussions. The civilian death toll has surpassed one thousand, according to both US-based and Iranian sources, including 168 schoolgirls reportedly killed in a still-disputed strike on an elementary school in Minab, southern Iran. Eleven people in Israel have been killed so far. The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed. In Thailand, the immediate impacts include rising petrol prices, which led the caretaker government of Anutin Charnvirakul to order a 15-day price freeze. Tourism is beginning to be affected as flights from the Middle East, and European travellers flying via the region, face disruption. Thai stocks also tumbled sharply on Wednesday, triggering an automatic circuit breaker and a 30-minute trading halt after the SET Index plunged 8%. On Wednesday morning, Al Arabiya English reported: “Iran will target the Israeli nuclear site of Dimona if Israel and the US seek regime change,” citing Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency, which in turn cited an Iranian military official. Yesterday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump had survived an assassination attempt. Trump has insisted he must have a role in choosing Iran’s next leader. For the past several days, Thai social media and some local outlets have begun discussing which countries might be safe if a third world war were to break out, followed by a nuclear winter. (Countries mentioned included New Zealand, Iceland, Bhutan and Fiji.) While the Thai government is taking a prudent stance by not taking sides and calling for respect for the rules-based international order, Thai citizens are also faced with the question of where they stand. Dear readers, do you feel powerless, believing that whatever your stance may be, it will be inconsequential in the face of this complex and widening war in the Middle East? Or are you engrossed, choosing sides and cheering for one camp or another as if watching a distant geopolitical drama unfold? Why our voices and views still matter If we, and the Thai government, remain passive, it would be tantamount to abandoning our role as citizens of the world and as responsible, active members of the international community. Carefully deliberating your stance on the war against Iran is not an exercise in intellectual futility or mere self-gratification. As more people are being killed even as I write these words, the future of the world is in a precarious state. We should not be passive; we should act. To me — and we can always agree to disagree — there are several issues to consider. First, are the attacks by the United States and Israel a violation of the rules-based international order and international law? If your answer is yes — and mine is — and if we value international law over the rule of the jungle, then we must denounce and oppose what the US and Israeli governments are doing. We should not, and cannot, support a world in which the rule of the jungle becomes the norm. Second, be careful not to conflate the US and Israeli governments with their citizens. No nation is monolithic. Take the United States, for example: many Americans oppose and denounce what Donald Trump is doing. Even many Trump voters thought they had voted for a president who would not engage in a “military adventure” abroad. Let us not turn our opposition to what we see as a war of aggression against Iran into blind hatred of all Americans or Israeli citizens. Many in the US are now asking what America’s endgame in Iran is, with more and more people questioning what comes next. The same applies to Israel. On a side note, a prominent supporter of the People’s Party foolishly taunted those who oppose the US attacks on Iran, suggesting they should stop using Facebook and Instagram if they disagree with Trump’s war. These platforms may be American, but they are not owned by Trump or the US government. Third, the situation is not black and white. Iran itself is an authoritarian state that has killed thousands of protesters who demanded freedom, not to mention the government’s support for Hamas. At the same time, the United States and Israel are taking advantage of the situation to launch attacks that serve their own geopolitical interests. We are facing a situation that goes beyond a simple binary of good versus evil. Yet we must ask ourselves what values we hold most dear and where we stand on an issue that is already affecting people around the globe — not only economically, but in ways that could potentially drag the world into the abyss of mutual destruction. Let us not deliberate based on predispositions, nor on emotional affinity for the United States or Iran, nor on religious belief. Instead, we should ask whether this is the kind of world we want to leave to our posterity — and if not, what needs to be done, both as citizens of Thailand and as members of the international community. Your voice may matter more than you think. In Europe, countries are grappling differently with the issue as well. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded to a threat from Trump — who warned he could end trade cooperation with Spain after it refused to allow its military bases to be used for an attack on Iran — by reiterating his opposition to the war, describing it as a “collapse of international law”. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appears uncertain in his government’s position. According to German public broadcaster DW, reporting before dawn today (Bangkok time), “Germany has shied away from commenting on the legality of the US-Israel war with Iran — even as allies and scholars say it violates international law”. DW also asks: “Is Germany shifting away from the rules-based order?” Given the gravity of the issue, Thailand and the Thai people cannot shy away from consulting our conscience and asking ourselves what values we hold dear. For my part, I believe we must denounce the US-led rule of the jungle. This is not just about US-Israel vs Iran, or even just about the Middle East, but about the world. It is affecting the world now, and the future as well.