The Russian Journal of Vietnamese StudiesThe Russian Journal of Vietnamese Studies2618-9453Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the RAS8702410.24411/2618-9453-2020-10020Research ArticleThailand and Vietnam: from confrontation to regional cooperation in the framework of ASEANKoldunovaE. VPhD (Politics), Associate Professor, Department of Asian and African Studies, Senior Expert, ASEAN Centree.koldunova@inno.mgimo.ruMoscow State Institute of International Relations150920204351605112021Copyright © 2020, Koldunova E.V.2020The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Kingdom of Thailand are two leading Indochinese states from the economic and political points of view. Throughout the 20th century, they have passed a long way from confrontation to a multifaceted cooperation. Being members of one regional integration block, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), since June 2013 they have been enjoying strategic partnership. At the same time this bilateral relationship often falls beyond the radar of the mainstream Russian and foreign research literature.The article defines three historical models of interaction between Thailand and Vietnam. It assesses their particular features with a focus on the late 20th - early 21st century, analyzes the main directions of cooperation under the framework of ASEAN and defines the trends of the Thai- Vietnamese competition on the Indochina peninsular. The article concludes that the current relations between Thailand and Vietnam are structurally complex and bear the features of what one can define as a competitive cooperation.ThailandVietnamDemocratic Republic of VietnamSocialist Republic ofVietnamASEANIndochinaТаиландВьетнамДРВСРВАСЕАНИндокитай[Колотов В.Н. Навстречу XII съезду КПВ: анализ внутриполитической ситуации международной обстановки // Вьетнамские исследования, вып. 6. М.: Форум, 2016. С. 107-122.][Мазырин В.М. Страны Индокитая в разрезе экономического роста // Международные процессы, 2017, т. 15, №3. С. 31-45.][Acharya Amitav. The Making of Southeast Asia: International Relations of a Region. Singapore: ISEAS, 2013.][ASEAN Statistical Yearbook 2019. Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat, 2019.][Buzan Barry. People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era. L.: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991.][Chachavalpongpun Pavin. Reinventing Thailand: Thaksin and His Foreign Policy. Singapore: ISEAS, 2010.][Chapman Nicholas. Mechanisms of Vietnam’s Multidirectional Foreign Policy// Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 2017, Vol. 36, Iss.2. P. 31-69.][Goscha Christopher E. Thailand and the Southeast Asian Networks of the Vietnamese Revolution, 1885-1954. Abington: Routledge, 1999.][Kausikan Bilahari. ASEAN is a ‘cow, not a horse’, 25.11.2015. URL: https://humanrightsinasean.info/news/asean-is-a-cow-not-a-horse/.][Khoman Thanat. ASEAN: Conception and Evolution, 01.11.1992. URL: https://asean.org/?static_post=asean-conception-and-evolution-by-thanat-khoman.][Maisrikrod Surin. “The Peace Dividend” in Southeast Asia: The Political Economy of New Thai- Vietnamese Relations. Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1994): 46-66.][Nguyen Vu Tung. Vietnam-Thailand Relations After the Cold War// International Relations in Southeast Asia: Between Bilateralism and Multilateralism. Edited by N. Ganesan and Ramses Amer. Singapore: ISEAS, 2010. P. 67-91.][Ruth Richard A. Why Thailand Takes Pride in the Vietnam War, 07.11.2017. URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/opinion/thailand-vietnam-war.html.][The State of Southeast Asia: 2020 Survey Report. Singapore: ISEAS, 2020.][Tran Cam Tu. The Image of “Opening and Changing” Vietnam in Thai Contemporary Fiction Books// MANUSYA, Journal of Humanities, 2020, Vol.23, Iss.1. P. 127-145.][Twenty-five years of Thai-Vietnamese relationship. Edited by Thanyathip Sripana, Theera Nuchpiam, Pham Duc Thanh. Bangkok: Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, 2003.][Vietnam, Thailand aim to push forward strategic partnership, 20.01.2020. URL: https://customsnews.vn/vietnam-thailand-aim-to-push-forward-strategic-partnership-13259.html.][Vietnam’s 10 biggest trading partners, 21.01.2019. URL: https://customsnews.vn/vietnams-10- biggest-trading-partners-9621.html.][Vietnam’s Foreign Policy under Doi Moi. Edited by Le Hong Hiep and Anton Tsvetov. Singapore: ISEAS, 2018.][VN, Thailand head toward $20 billion in trade, 26.01.2020. URL: https://vietnamnews.vn/politics- laws/484573/vn-thailand-head-toward-20-billion-in-trade.html.][Weatherbee Donald E. International Relations in Southeast Asia: The Struggle for Autonomy. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008.][Wheeler Matthew Z. The Tailor of Nakhon Phanom // ICWA Letters, 2004. P. 1-11. URL: http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MZW-11.pdf.][Winichakul, Thongchai. Siam Mapperd: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation. Chiang Mai: Silkworm books, 1995.]