Southeast Asian countries Middle East Timor, Myanmar , Laos , Cambodia have all experienced many years of war. These countries are now recognized by United Nations as the least developed countries in the world. In contrast, Singapore , Indonesia , Vietnam and Thailand are usually considered to be the four countries with the strongest comprehensive national strength in Southeast Asia. Among them, Vietnam and Thailand are the most commonly compared: Singapore and Indonesia are both island countries, while Vietnam and Thailand are countries located in , Indochina Peninsula . Vietnam and Thailand are geographically close, with roughly the same territory and population, and there have been competition in history.
From the 18th to the 19th century, Vietnam and Siam A series of wars broke out in the battle for Laos and Cambodia: Siam invaded Hassan, Vietnam in 1717-1718; Siam invaded Hassan, Vietnam again invaded Hassan, Vietnam in 1769-1773; Vietnam failed to try to support Laos Vientiane King Zhao Anu, who fought against Siam in 1826; Siam supported the Levin Rebellion in Nanqi, Vietnam in 1831-1834. In the early 19th century, the entire Cambodia became Vietnam's "protective country", but Siam successfully supported Cambodia's restoration in 1841. Judging from the results of previous matches, most of them ended with Siam winning and Vietnam losing.
Of course, some people will say that this is the old almanac from many years ago. In 1812, the United States was set on fire by the British army. But can Britain still beat the United States today? , Russia, , in 1905, was defeated by Japan, so can this prove that Japan today can beat Russia? Things in the 18th and 19th century are indeed a bit far from us today. Let’s take a look at the results of the fight between Vietnam and Thailand more than 40 years ago. After winning successive victories in the Wars against France and the United States, Vietnam openly regarded itself as the world's third military power. After Vietnam sent troops to occupy Cambodia in 1978, border friction with Thailand began.
Since March 1979, a nine-year war broke out between Vietnam and Thailand. In early April 1983, nearly a thousand Vietnamese soldiers penetrated into Thailand's territory, but the Thai army wiped out 250 Vietnamese soldiers after several days of fierce fighting. In March 1984, the Vietnamese army launched the largest offensive on Thailand. The Thai army used the superior firepower of Air Force and artillery to regain the occupied territory again. From then on, Thailand gradually gained the upper hand in this war and eventually forced Vietnam to take the initiative to make peace. It can be seen that Thailand has gained the upper hand in all the confrontations with Vietnam in ancient times and modern times.
Of course, there is an objective background for Thailand to gain the upper hand in the war with Vietnam in the 1980s. At that time, the northern powers were carrying out a two-mountain rotation war against Vietnam. Vietnam, which was in a state of two fronts at that time, was actually at a relatively disadvantage in the war with Thailand. Therefore, we cannot prove that Thailand's military strength is stronger than Vietnam just because Thailand defeated Vietnam in the 1980s. In the 2021 global firepower website’s military power rankings for countries around the world, Thailand ranks 26th and Vietnam ranks 24th. It can be seen from this that internationally, it is generally believed that Vietnam's military strength is stronger than Thailand.
Of course, from this list, we can also see that the military rankings between Thailand and Vietnam are not much different. Even if the two countries fight another battle today, it will be hard to predict the outcome. Currently, the size of Vietnam's active troops is about 480,000, while the size of Thailand's active troops is about 360,000. Although Vietnam has an advantage in terms of military scale, it may not have an advantage in terms of weapons and equipment, military quality, logistics supply, etc. Some people always like to say that Vietnam has rich practical experience in fighting against major powers like France and the United States, but don’t forget that Thailand has the experience of defeating Vietnam.
Vietnam does have an absolute advantage in the army: The main combat equipment of Vietnam Army is about 2100 tanks , 5500 armored vehicles and more than 1200 artillery . The main combat equipment of the Thai Army is equipped with about 840 tanks, 2,500 armored vehicles and more than 600 artillery. The Thai Army lags behind the Vietnamese Army in terms of both number of troops and weapons and equipment, but Thailand has an advantage over Vietnam in terms of naval and air power. The Thai Navy currently has about 290 warships, including one light aircraft carrier , while the Vietnamese Navy currently has only about 60 warships.
Thailand's advantages in the air force are more obvious: Thai Air Force has about 600 military aircraft of various types. Among them, the number of a batch of fourth-generation aircraft such as the F-16 Falcon and JSA-39 Gripen fighter is about 60. The Vietnam Air Force currently has about 250 military aircraft of various types. The Vietnamese Air Force not only lags behind Thailand in terms of number of fighter jets, but also significantly lags behind Thailand in terms of fighter jet quality. At present, the main combat aircraft of the Vietnam Air Force is still relatively behind Thailand's third-generation and a half-generation fighter jet in terms of performance. Overall, the Vietnamese army is stronger than Thailand, but Thailand has an advantage over Vietnam in terms of sea and air strength.
Although the global firepower website ranks Vietnam's military strength above Thailand, the gap in military strength between the two countries is not too big in general. Of course, in addition to seeing the size of the army and weapons and equipment, the military strength of a country should also consider hidden factors such as strategic depth, military industry potential, economic foundation, military system, organizational and mobilization capabilities, command and coordination capabilities, logistics supply capabilities, and combat will. Let me give you a simple example: when the military strength of the two countries is roughly equal, whoever can produce more military supplies will obviously have the advantage.
This means that while measuring military strength, productivity issues should be taken into account, and a country's productivity is directly related to economic and technological strength. Thailand is obviously stronger than Vietnam in terms of economic and social development. As one of the former " Asian Four Tigers ", Thailand was once considered to have entered the threshold of developed countries in the 1990s. Although Thailand is no longer as glorious as before after the Asian financial crisis in 1998, at least in Southeast Asia, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Vietnam's economic development has been very fast since 986, but so far, Vietnam's economic level is still much worse than Thailand.
Thailand created a total of approximately US$500 billion in GDP in 2020. This is second only to Indonesia among Southeast Asian countries. This year, Thailand's per capita GDP 2 reached US$7,200. This ranks behind Singapore, Brunei , and Malaysia among Southeast Asian countries. In contrast, Vietnam's total GDP is only US$270 billion, while per capita GDP is only about US$2,800. Vietnam's total GDP is only slightly more than half of Thailand's, and Vietnam's per capita GDP is less than half of Thailand's. The added value of Thailand's manufacturing industry in 2020 was US$126.6 billion, while the added value of Vietnam's manufacturing industry in the same year was US$45.2 billion.
1985 to 2020 Thailand's total industrial output value was US$2.3 trillion, while Vietnam's total industrial output value in the same period was approximately US$483.6 billion. In 2020, Thailand produced 11.43 million html cars, and in the same year, Vietnam produced 1.16 million cars . It is not difficult to see the gap in industrial production capacity between Thailand and Vietnam. Thailand is stronger than Vietnam in industrial productivity and is also stronger than Vietnam in the field of education and scientific research. The national literacy rate in Thailand and Vietnam is 95%. The enrollment rate of universities in Thailand is 49%, while that of universities in Vietnam is only 29%. The number of resident patents in Thailand in 2019 was 821, while the number of resident patents in Vietnam was 720.
In addition, both parties have their own advantages in their innate territory, population size, and resource endowment. Thailand's territory is about 513,000 square kilometers, while Vietnam's territory is about 330,000 square kilometers. Thailand's population is about 70 million, while Vietnam's population is close to 100 million. The arable land area in Thailand is about 168,000 square kilometers, while the arable land area in Vietnam is about 70,000 square kilometers. The per capita water resource in Thailand is about 3244 cubic meters, while the per capita water resource in Vietnam is about 3799 cubic meters. Thailand has advantages over Vietnam in terms of territory and arable land, while Vietnam has an advantage over Thailand in terms of human resources and water resources.
Thailand and Vietnam each have advantages in terms of innate conditions such as territory, population, and resources. Both sides are roughly equivalent in terms of military strength, but Thailand is significantly stronger than Vietnam in terms of economic, technological and social development. Therefore, overall, Thailand should be stronger than Vietnam in terms of comprehensive national strength.However, after the Asian financial crisis in 1998, Thailand, which fell into the middle-income trap, , developed in Thailand, stagnated, while Vietnam has maintained a rapid development speed since its reform and opening up in 986. Vietnam's economic growth has been faster than Thailand in recent years. Of course, it will take quite some time for Vietnam to catch up with Thailand's current growth rate.
