A series of bold foreign-policy strokes – the Asia Cooperation Dialogue, the Economic Cooperation Strategy for the development of mainland Southeast Asia, and America’s designation of Thailand as a “major non-NATO ally” – turned the international spotlight on Thaksin during his first term. Violence in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim south seemed to dent his ambitions last year, but his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party’s landslide victory last February gave his bid for regional leadership a new lease on life.
在第一次任期内，他信推出了一系列外交政策方面的大胆举措，其中包括亚洲合作对话（ACD）、东南亚大陆发展经济合作战略(ECS)、及美国指定泰国为其“非北约主要盟国”，这些使他信成为了全球瞩目的中心。去年,泰国南部地区(该地区以穆斯林人口为主)的暴力事件似乎对他信的雄心壮志有所打击，但其领导的泰爱泰党（TRT）在去年二月取得的压倒性胜利又重新鼓起了他争取地区领导人地位的信心。