]MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte has landed again in the pages of a foreign publication -- this time, in a Thai news website which warned him against making too many enemies overseas.

Bangkok's The Nation criticized Duterte on Tuesday for hurling verbal tirades against United States President Barack Obama, who has raised the alarm over the rising death toll in the Philippines' war against crime and narcotics.

In an editorial entitled "Duterte can't afford foreign enemies," the site said the Filipino leader cannot pursue international policies amid a chorus of international opposition.

"In an ideal world, sovereign nations would maintain the unchallenged authority to implement any policy without other countries attempting to intervene, not even the superpowers on which so much depends in our interconnected world," the news organization said.

"In reality, however, no national leader has the freedom to pursue policies deemed inappropriate by the international community."

The paper also noted that Duterte's "characteristic gutter language" led to the cancellation of his planned meeting with Obama at the ASEAN Summit last week.

With the cancelled meeting, Filipinos lost a chance to affirm the support of the United States over its conflicting claims with China over the West Philippine Sea, The Nation argued.

"Duterte's brashness achieved nothing. Words that might have reinforced his reputation as a maverick and a tough merely caused embarrassment for his government and countrymen," the editorial added.

The Nation also said Duterte made matters worse by "lying" when he denied making profane comments about Obama.

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The newspaper urged Duterte to temper his volatile rhetoric and change course in his efforts to purge the drug menace if he wants to maintain good international ties.

"As Obama pointed out, narcotics are a major problem for all nations, but efforts to suppress them must be conducted in accordance with democratic standards and the rule of law," The Nation said.

"Nowhere else in the world apart from in the Philippines, he might have added, are the police and vigilantes encouraged by the state to shoot dead people simply suspected of involvement. "

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MARITIME DISPUTE

The editorial also tackled Duterte's strategy in reaching out to China over the sea dispute.

Despite recognizing that Manila might gain credit in Beijing by moving outside Washington's sphere of influence, the paper stressed that: "American support in this matter is a bargaining chip that Duterte cannot afford to lose."

"Smart leaders don't limit their options in striking global deals. Duterte's blunder at his first international summit needn't become a syndrome. He only has to reconsider policy, adopt more careful strategy and curb his bad manners," it said.

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NEW COMM TACTICS

De La Salle University Professor Richard Heydarian mostly agreed with the observations of the editorial, particularly with its argument on preserving Manila's diplomatic ties.

"It's time for bigwigs within the Duterte Cabinet to exert more influence to ensure the Philippines' key relations with partners like America as well as overall international image, which is key to business confidence, aren't unduly affected," Heydarian said.

Heydarian said the President and his team must learn how to deal with reporters.

"It's important to make sure the Press Secretary of Foreign Secretary are more hands on in making foreign policy related speeches. Either they can just talk in behalf of the president or ensure short and sweet speeches by him but limited Q and A after," he said.

Heydarian also stressed that Duterte's Cabinet should be well-briefed in discussing sensitive foreign policy issues "to avoid any mixed signals or confusion."

"The President could rather more focus on his domestic political agenda which surely is daunting and energy consuming. There will have to be an optimal division of labor and clear chain of communications command," he added.

"The dust ups in recent weeks should serve as a catalyst in streamline and upgrading the communications aspect of an administration which doesn't lack energy and political will but only needs more message discipline."