ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

Thailand Brokers Deal With Iran Allowing Vessels to Pass Strait of Hormuz

The arrangement with Tehran is likely to alleviate some of the worst impacts of the fuel shortages that threaten further to constrain the country’s economy.

A fishing boat in the Strait of Hormuz.

Thailand has struck a deal with Iran to allow its vessels and tankers to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Saturday, potentially alleviating the country’s energy supply crunch.

“An agreement has been reached to allow Thai oil tankers to transit safely through the Strait of Hormuz,” Anutin said, as per the AFP news agency. “With this agreement in place, there is greater confidence that disruptions like those seen in early March will not recur.”

Anutin’s announcement came three weeks after a Thailand-flagged bulk carrier was attacked by an Iranian projectile in the strait, causing a fire onboard and forcing the crew to evacuate. Twenty of the 23 crew on board were evacuated to Oman, but three remain unaccounted for.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later admitted responsibility for attacking two vessels on March 11, including the Mayuree Naree, claiming that they had “ignored the warnings of the IRGC naval forces.”

The incident prompted an official Thai diplomatic protest to Iran and a subsequent diplomatic engagement. Following talks between Thailand’s Foreign Ministry and the Iranian embassy in Bangkok, another Thai vessel, an oil tanker owned by the local energy firm Bangchak Corporation Plc, was permitted to pass the Strait on March 23, after being stuck for nearly two weeks in the Persian Gulf.

Commodities shipping through the Strait of Hormuz fell by a remarkable 95 percent between March 1 and 26, according to the maritime tracking platform Kpler. The effective closure of the Strait has scrambled global energy markets and caused negative ripple effects across the world. Few regions have been hit as hard as Asia, the destination of more than 80 percent of the crude oil and liquefied natural gas that traverses the Strait.

In Thailand, the Iran war has threatened to derail Anutin’s attempts to revive the Thai economy, which has been stagnant since the COVID-19 pandemic. Thailand currently imports around 50 percent of its crude oil from the Gulf. Its net oil imports are also equivalent to 4.7 percent of GDP, the highest share in the region. So far, the country has seen sharp spikes in fuel prices in recent weeks, which have already ramified into the transport, industry, and the agriculture sector; the shortages have even affected Buddhist crematoriums. Meanwhile, the rising cost of jet fuel is likely to slow further the recovery of Thailand’s tourism sector, following a disappointing 2025.

Anutin, who was reappointed prime minister on March 19 and will unveil his new cabinet later this week, said that his government is ready to provide the necessary support and relief to the people. “The government will continue to adapt to evolving situations and adjust measures to minimise the impact on the public,” he said.

Anutin’s announcement comes shortly after Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that his government had brokered a similar deal with Tehran, which will allow stranded Malaysian tankers to pass the Strait.

“We are ⁠now in the process of releasing the Malaysian ​oil tankers and the workers involved so that they ​may continue their journey home,” he said late last week.

While it is unsurprising that Iran would give Malaysia a carve-out – Anwar has been an outspoken opponent of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, arguing that it will bring the Middle East to “the edge of grave and sustained instability” – the exception for Thailand is notable. The fact that a U.S. treaty ally is willing to deal with a nation with which Washington is at war suggests that President Donald Trump’s Persian misadventure enjoys very little international support, especially outside the West.

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Thailand has struck a deal with Iran to allow its vessels and tankers to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Saturday, potentially alleviating the country’s energy supply crunch.

“An agreement has been reached to allow Thai oil tankers to transit safely through the Strait of Hormuz,” Anutin said, as per the AFP news agency. “With this agreement in place, there is greater confidence that disruptions like those seen in early March will not recur.”

Anutin’s announcement came three weeks after a Thailand-flagged bulk carrier was attacked by an Iranian projectile in the strait, causing a fire onboard and forcing the crew to evacuate. Twenty of the 23 crew on board were evacuated to Oman, but three remain unaccounted for.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later admitted responsibility for attacking two vessels on March 11, including the Mayuree Naree, claiming that they had “ignored the warnings of the IRGC naval forces.”

The incident prompted an official Thai diplomatic protest to Iran and a subsequent diplomatic engagement. Following talks between Thailand’s Foreign Ministry and the Iranian embassy in Bangkok, another Thai vessel, an oil tanker owned by the local energy firm Bangchak Corporation Plc, was permitted to pass the Strait on March 23, after being stuck for nearly two weeks in the Persian Gulf.

Commodities shipping through the Strait of Hormuz fell by a remarkable 95 percent between March 1 and 26, according to the maritime tracking platform Kpler. The effective closure of the Strait has scrambled global energy markets and caused negative ripple effects across the world. Few regions have been hit as hard as Asia, the destination of more than 80 percent of the crude oil and liquefied natural gas that traverses the Strait.

In Thailand, the Iran war has threatened to derail Anutin’s attempts to revive the Thai economy, which has been stagnant since the COVID-19 pandemic. Thailand currently imports around 50 percent of its crude oil from the Gulf. Its net oil imports are also equivalent to 4.7 percent of GDP, the highest share in the region. So far, the country has seen sharp spikes in fuel prices in recent weeks, which have already ramified into the transport, industry, and the agriculture sector; the shortages have even affected Buddhist crematoriums. Meanwhile, the rising cost of jet fuel is likely to slow further the recovery of Thailand’s tourism sector, following a disappointing 2025.

Anutin, who was reappointed prime minister on March 19 and will unveil his new cabinet later this week, said that his government is ready to provide the necessary support and relief to the people. “The government will continue to adapt to evolving situations and adjust measures to minimise the impact on the public,” he said.

Anutin’s announcement comes shortly after Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that his government had brokered a similar deal with Tehran, which will allow stranded Malaysian tankers to pass the Strait.

“We are ⁠now in the process of releasing the Malaysian ​oil tankers and the workers involved so that they ​may continue their journey home,” he said late last week.

While it is unsurprising that Iran would give Malaysia a carve-out – Anwar has been an outspoken opponent of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, arguing that it will bring the Middle East to “the edge of grave and sustained instability” – the exception for Thailand is notable. The fact that a U.S. treaty ally is willing to deal with a nation with which Washington is at war suggests that President Donald Trump’s Persian misadventure enjoys very little international support, especially outside the West.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

Thailand-Iran relations

U.S.-Israel war on Iran

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