Thailand accepts invitation to BRICS 'partners' despite Trump threat

The Thai government has accepted the invitation of the BRICS as a "partner state" as U.S. President-elect Trump has issued a strong warning to the BRICS, a coalition of emerging economies challenging dollar hegemony.

According to Russian media, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikondet Palangin said at a cabinet meeting held on the 24th that he had decided to respond positively to invitations from partner countries sent by Russia, the chairman of the BRICS.

As a result, Thai Foreign Minister Marit Saengyampong reportedly sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stating that he agreed to join the partnership."Being a BRICS partner is an important step on Thailand's path to becoming a full member in the future," Nikondet spokesman
said.

BRICS agreed at a summit in Kazan, Russia, in late October to involve Thailand and 13 other countries as partners rather than full members.

In addition to Thailand, the list of partners reportedly includes Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

In this regard, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the Tas news agency on the 17th that the list of BRICS partners will be announced by the end of the year.

However, tensions surrounding the BRICS' move to expand into participating countries are growing as Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS countries challenging dollar hegemony on the 30th of last month.

"The days of BRICS countries trying to get out of the dollar, but the U.S. is gone," Trump said. "Whether it's a new currency or an existing currency, if BRICS challenges dollar hegemony, it will impose 100% tariffs."

"If that happens, we will say goodbye to the export market of the United States," he said, stressing that "there is no possibility that BRICS will find an alternative to the dollar in international trade."