HEAD TO HEAD
Thailand vs Vietnam
Verdict
Vietnam holds a 53–47 advantage over Thailand on the Relative Advantage Index.
The margin is driven by military spending (64% of the combined total, $10.5bn) and active personnel (57% of the combined total, 482.0k). Thailand leads on logistics & power projection and economic size (GDP).
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
Factor by factor
| Factor | Thailand | Share | Vietnam | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $6.0bn | 36%64% | $10.5bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $527bn | 53%48% | $476bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 361.0k | 43%57% | 482.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 64 | 63%37% | 38 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-10-22.
