Luxon touched down in Thailand late on Tuesday night, before launching into a packed day of business breakfasts and bilateral meetings in the kingdom’s capital.
The visit to Thailand comes after Luxon’s Singapore swing – somewhat of a love-in for the Kiwi Prime Minister, where he schmoozed high-net worth individuals, big business and venture capitalists, and had his third (and last) meeting with his prime ministerial counterpart.
Just an hour after Luxon first met Singapore’s leader Lee Hsien Loong on this trip, the veteran of 20 years officially announced his retirement.
An hour after that, Luxon was back in the room, cementing his relationship with Lee’s anointed successor, Lawrence Wong. It was the second time the pair had met, and Luxon said he was certain they would continue to build on existing ties as the Indo Pacific nations face a changing geostrategic situation.
The business delegation, officials and media travelling with the Prime Minister would be forgiven for losing track of the number of times Luxon told audiences that “New Zealand is under new management, and open for business”.
While most received the memo loud and clear, there was just one slip of the tongue where Massey University head Jan Thomas acknowledged the presence of the Right Honourable Christopher Hipkins. A nudge from the crowd, a profuse apology and a good chuckle from the real PM and things were back on track.
Luxon’s role as salesman-in-chief was a fitting one as he reconnected with freshly minted Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The 61-year-old worked at Proctor & Gamble while Luxon was at competitor Unilever. Thavisin went on to become president of his family’s property development company, Sansiri.
Since taking the helm last August, he had flown around the world, meeting world leaders – particularly those with whom Thailand’s relationship had languished following the 2014 military coup.
Luxon first met Thavisin at the ASEAN summit in Melbourne last month, where the Thai Prime Minister flew in with two VIP jets. Meanwhile, Luxon was forced to go commercial at the last minute after a maintenance fault with the nose landing gear in the ageing 757.
So far on this trip, there had been no issues with the Air Force plane, which took off smoothly from Auckland on Sunday.
Luxon was careful not to mention the plane issues with ASEAN leaders during that first important meeting in March, crossing his fingers and toes that they didn’t read the coverage from New Zealand media stuck in the Rongotai departure lounge. He almost got away with it, with only Albanese offering to lend him a canoe to get back home.
Luxon will be hoping the 757s can handle what is likely to be a brutal travel schedule for the rest of the year.
The trip to Southeast Asia – where he’s visiting Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines in five days – was just the start of the programme. Newsroom understands Luxon is also planning bilateral visits to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan, as well as the UK and US this year. This doesn’t include summits like CHOGM, NATO and ASEAN.
But Luxon would need to be careful to hit the right balance with his outward-facing diplomatic and trade engagements.
Thavisin spent a third of his first six months as Prime Minister out of the country, but faced a public backlash.
Thailand was also experiencing the squeeze of the high cost of living, and tax changes had led to discontent among some groups. The optics of a Prime Minister spending money on international travel didn’t sit well with Thai people.
So, last month, Thavisin self-imposed a two-month travel ban. Now, the leaders come to him.
Similar issues had been raised in New Zealand in the past. Under Simon Bridges’ leadership – before Luxon entered Parliament – the National Party opposition criticised Jacinda Ardern’s travel schedule, calling her the “part-time Prime Minister”.
When asked whether he needed to be wary, Luxon defended his travel schedule.
“I’ve been at home, and I am at home. I can do both,” he said.
“If you think about it, I’m taking five days in a working week to actually get around three countries that are very important to our future.”
During their second visit, Luxon and Thavisin appeared at ease with each other, laughing while arriving at Thailand’s palatial Government House.
Luxon kept it formal while inspecting the guard of honour in the 36-degree heat, just nodding to soldiers during the inspection. In Singapore, one member of the military guard of honour looked particularly put-out by the New Zealand Prime Minister’s attempt to shake his hand.
Following the formalities, Luxon and Thavisin got down to business, literally.
In an unconventional move, the two leaders invited the business leaders into the room with them.
“We’re just very focused to make sure that we build understanding of each other and, actually, even for Prime Ministers to hear directly from the respective business communities in the other countries,” Luxon said.
On the other side of the meeting, the countries made a series of announcements, including addressing visa issues (90-day tourist visas to Thailand increased from $60 to $300 last month), and restoring direct flights to Thailand.
These travel-focused promises came with a target to increase visitor numbers to pre-Covid levels: Thai tourists up to 40,000 next year and New Zealand tourists up to 100,000.
But the centrepiece was a promise to move to a strategic partnership in 2026, with a commitment to treble two-way trade by 2045.
Exports to Thailand were valued at $1.5 billion in 2023, making the kingdom New Zealand’s 10th largest trading partner. And while the goal might seem ambitious at first glance, once future inflation was accounted for, the shine was somewhat lost.
The two leaders also spoke about the changing geopolitical scene in the region.
“The world is increasingly more disrupted and more fragile than we’ve seen in a generation,” Luxon said.
The situation in Myanmar was a key feature. Luxon said he condemned the military coup and acknowledged Thailand was dealing with a difficult situation, as refugees filed over the border.
Meanwhile, his Government has been criticised by the Myanmar community for allowing an official from Myanmar’s military junta into the country as part of an ASEAN event. Luxon said all members and partners of ASEAN had adopted the same stance: political leaders were banned, but officials were welcome.
He did not plan to raise the issue of the two Kiwi men who were recently arrested in Thailand.
Ever the salesman, Luxon has been promoting himself and his message to the public – who he almost called “consumers” – at any opportunity.
As well as bilateral meetings, business roundtables, exclusive meetings, and media press conferences, he’s been carving out precious time in his schedule to film social media content – giving him the opportunity to speak direct to the public.
During this trip, Newshub revealed the Prime Minister has seven people running his social media. One could be found scurrying after Luxon, snapping pictures for Twitter and videos for Tiktok with his unfettered access at business events and palatial government offices.
Luxon had been confined to boardrooms, hotel ballrooms and bilateral meeting rooms for most of the trip so far; he had also made an effort to inject a bit of colour into his days. In Singapore, he ate a traditional breakfast with food influencer Aiken Chia and in Thailand, a ride around the block in a tuk-tuk.
Luxon will want to be careful of hitting the right balance. Because while these pictures are great for Instagram, he doesn’t want to appear to be living his best tourist life when those stuck back at home are doing it tough.
