On 8 February 2020, Ambassador Pisanu Suvanajata of Thailand addressed the Warwick ASEAN Conference 2020, held at The Oculus, Warwick University under the theme of “Embracing Disruption” and attended by over 200 participants, including students, academia, and interested audience.

Ambassador Pisanu looked at the disruption differently by citing an example of a young Thai girl leaving her high pay job in the city to be with her parents in the countryside. With no farming knowledge, she turned to the internet for advice on know-how and access to the market. With perseverance and determination, she has succeeded and now exports her products to Europe.  Another example he cited was about a local council doing research to find ways to revive high street businesses amidst disruption from online shopping. The lessons learned were the ability to adapt, the ability to do what makes you happy, and engagement with the community to grow together.

The Thai Ambassador also shared his view on how ASEAN embraced disruption, such as through the Smart Cities Network which was designed to be technology-enabled to help improve a balanced living and more equal access to services by the disabled and the elderly. Smart cities are created for the people under the people-centred approach, not merely dictated by available technology. At the same time, environmental concerns have been factored in to ensure the “Sustainability of Things”. As the 2019 Chair of ASEAN, Thailand was instrumental in bringing about, for the first time, an agreement by all ten ASEAN leaders to tackle marine debris together and to apply digital technology to manage plastic debris at sea. ASEAN also makes the most use of technology to build our well-connected Community, both by physical infrastructure e.g. road and rail links,  and by software connectivity, e.g. harmonised rules and regulations  for border crossing and customs to promote intra-ASEAN and international trade. Most importantly, it is people-to-people connectivity which bond us together. The Warwick ASEAN Conference as a good example where ASEAN students worked together to make ASEAN more visible in the UK.

The participants exchanged views on how to invest in and use technology for various purposed in the disruptive world such as environmental conservation, finance and health insurance.  Viet Nam as the ASEAN Chair will continue the work by Thailand to bring sustainable prosperity to the ASEAN Community.