Материалы чтений памяти Б. Н. Мельниченко и С. Е. Трифонова

112 1. Introduction The cultural and humanitarian cooperation 1 between Thailand and Russia is an important factor for strengthening the relations between both countries. I would like to emphasize that the citizens play the cru- cial part as the mechanism that helps initiate the cooperation between Thailand and Russia, apart from the government. Accordingly, I spe- cifically focus on the attempt of Thailand to establish the relations be- tween Thai and Russian citizens. The theory of neoliberalism is used as an analytical framework. Par- ticularly, the development of transnational relations or transnational- ism framework is the process where international relations are support- ed by the individuals and the society. The citizens play a significant role that helps initiate the cooperation, apart from the government [ จันทร์ธนะ กุล 2562]. Soft power is the power that the nation-states use to persuade countries to commit or avoid an action. These concepts are used to ana- lyze the cultural and humanitarian cooperation as a factor that supports the friendship between Thailand and Russia. 2. Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation between Thailand and Russia Thai-Russian relations did not always proceed well during the Cold War era due to the difference in their political ideologies. Nevertheless, Thailand could not neglect Russia since the country, as a Great power, also has the power like the US. During the Cold War Russia used soft power in the form of edu- cational support by providing scholarships for Thai students. Using education as a tool is a peaceful way to enhance its influence without using force, and it is also the foundation that the mutual understand- ing is built upon. The scholarships are a successful tool as the gradu- ates from Russia come back to teach the Russian language and form the knowledge regarding the Russian studies. Initiating relations on the citizen’s level is part of the mechanism that helps increase the mu- tual understanding that led to the expansion of Russian influence in Thailand. 1 In Russia the term of humanitarian cooperation has a wider meaning. Hu- manitarian cooperation includes cultural exchanges, inter-civilization dialogue and dialogue between people.