Thai King to Pay State Visit to Vietnam Next Week

The King of Thailand will make a state visit to Vietnam next week. The visit is made at the invitation of General Secretary and President To Lam and his spouse. Relations between Vietnam and Thailand have developed positively, with growing trust and increasing depth. The two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in May 2025 and signed an action program for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for 2026–2031 in May 2026. This move is seen as part of Vietnam's foreign policy to strategically develop relations with regional powers under its one-party system. In terms of trade, Thailand is currently Vietnam's largest trading partner in ASEAN. In 2025, the two-way trade reached US$22.1 billion, up 9 percent from 2024. Of this figure, Vietnam's exports stood at US$8.8 billion, up 12.7 percent, while imports reached US$13.3 billion, up 6.7 percent. In the first seven months of 2026, the bilateral trade exceeded US$15.03 billion, representing a 22 percent increase year-on-year. Vietnam's exports amounted to more than US$6.52 billion, up 34 percent, while imports exceeded US$9.51 billion, up 27 percent. In terms of investment, Thailand currently has 813 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of more than US$15.4 billion, ranking eighth among 153 countries and territories investing in the country and second among ASEAN investors. Meanwhile, Vietnamese investors have poured US$55.5 million into 23 valid investment projects in Thailand. In terms of tourism, more than 660,300 Vietnamese tourists visited Thailand in 2025, making Vietnam the 17th largest tourist source market for Thailand. Conversely, nearly 458,000 Thai tourists visited Vietnam, ranking 11th. This indicates active people-to-people exchanges and suggests that the benefits of economic growth are beginning to extend to the daily lives of citizens.