The shifting landscape of trade relations between the big powers such as the United States, China and Japan, will benefit Thailand and other developing countries in the Indo-Pacific region, a seminar was told.
However, the kingdom needs to boost the quality of its labour force and improve the transparency of its rules and regulations, experts said.
"Thanks to [US President Donald] Trump, Japan and China have been able to open up a new era of relations.
"With these new relations, the centre of the world economy is being shifted back to China, India and Asean, enabling trade and investment to pour into developing countries in the region," Chulalongkorn University's economist and expert on Asean Piti Srisangnam said during the Thailand Research Fund-Asean Public Forum titled "Developing and Connecting the EEC with AEC".
The EEC stands for the Thai government's much-touted Eastern Economic Corridor which it hopes will bring large amounts of foreign investment to the eastern region of the country.
Mr Piti said China and Japan's cooperation ushered in by the recent official visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tokyo has enabled the two countries, after a long period of discord, to look forward to cooperation in trade and investment, especially through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and China's Development Bank.
He added that most of the investment will likely be directed to Asia, especially Southeast Asia.
To secure current investors and attract greater volumes of trade and investment from new investors, Mr Piti suggested that Thailand needs to demonstrate it already has the necessary factors in place to lure foreign direct investment such as attractive market size and growth potential, transport and infrastructure, and reasonable wage rates, labour skills and tax rates.
However, Mr Piti said Thailand still lacks the necessary regulatory environment and political stability. The country is also lacking where its labour force is concerned as it is head rapidly toward being an ageing society.
"Thailand needs to welcome workers from neighbouring countries as well as other countries because we are seriously in need of labour," he said.
Mr Piti, while admitting that the importance of Asean has weakened, said the bloc is still relevant with a vital role to play in managing security, adding that the launch of the Asean Economic Community had been a positive development.
As Thailand will take up the Asean chairmanship soon, he suggested that Asean member states seek greater cooperation with dialogue partners to strengthen the regional bloc's role in the wider sphere, adding that Asean also needs to help push for the realisation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Sonklin Ploymee, director of Thailand's Board of Investment's Foreign Investment Marketing Division, shared Mr Piti's concerns, saying that Thailand's human capital may lag behind rivals in terms of a skilled work force needed to operate technological innovations.
He added that Thailand needs to stress domestic human resource development while at the same time attracting foreign talent to come and work in the country.