SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH THAI FOREIGN MINISTER

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Remarks With Thai Foreign Minister Dr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul Before Their Meeting

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
May 6, 2013
　

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. It’s my great pleasure to welcome Foreign Minister Surapong from Thailand here. Let me first congratulate him, congratulate His Majesty, the King of Thailand, who celebrates his 63rd anniversary on the throne today. I know normally the commemoration day is yesterday, but they celebrate today.

And I want to thank our friends in Thailand, who represent the longest security relationship, the longest partner that we have in Asia – 180 years of a treaty relationship with Thailand. They are our partner in the largest multinational field exercise that takes place in the region. They are an important partner with respect to a number of security issues – for instance, in Darfur, where they are partnering with us, as well as in the Horn of Africa, where they’ve been very productive with us in countering piracy, anti-piracy efforts.

In addition, we cooperate on a far range of issues, from the environment to wildlife protection, species protection, counter-narcotics, organized crime, other initiatives with respect to refugees and trafficking, anti-trafficking efforts. So we have an enormously broad security relationship, and Mr. Foreign Minister, we are very, very happy to welcome you here today. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER SURAPONG: Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to be here once again in Washington, D.C. Secretary Kerry, thank you for your kind invitation and warm hospitality. Last November, President Obama visited Thailand as his first stop in Southeast Asia after his reelection. His visit served to strengthen our strong partnership. My meeting with Secretary Kerry today will be a good chance to continue dialogue on our future partnership, especially as we mark 180 years of Thai-U.S. diplomatic relations this year. So I am looking forward to a constructive discussion with Secretary Kerry on both bilateral and global issues of mutual interest.

Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Let’s go work on the next 180 years.

U.S. WELCOMES THAILAND'S ENDORSEMENT OF PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE



A Yaksha demon guards the Wat Phra Kaew, Temple of the Emerald Buddha, in the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Credit: CIA World Factbook.

 

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

 Thailand Endorses the Proliferation Security Initiative
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 19, 2012
　

The United States welcomes the Kingdom of Thailand’s decision to endorse the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). President Obama has commended Thailand for its decision to participate in the Initiative, which advances our shared vision of a secure and peaceful Asia-Pacific where the rights and responsibilities of all nations are upheld. The United States looks forward to working with the Royal Thai Government to advance the nonproliferation goals of the PSI and its Statement of Interdiction Principles. Thailand is the 102nd state to become a PSI participant.

Launched in Krakow, Poland in 2003, the PSI will mark its tenth anniversary in May 2013. PSI participants commit to undertake measures, on a voluntary basis and consistent with their authorities and resources, to interdict illicit transfers of weapons of mass destruction- and missile-related items, exchange relevant information, and strengthen legal authorities to conduct interdictions. They also conduct exercises, workshops, and other activities to improve their capacities to fulfill their PSI commitments. The addition of each new participating state strengthens the Initiative and helps ensure that it will remain a durable international effort in the years ahead.



 

U.S.-THAILAND DEFENSE ALLIANCE

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, center, tours the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Nov. 15, 2012. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
 
U.S., Thai Leaders Move Defense Alliance Into 21st Century
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

BANGKOK, Nov. 15, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Thai Defense Minister Sukampol Suwannathat affirmed their nations' long-term military partnership here today, updating a vision for the alliance whose most recent statement, in 1962, focused on fighting communism.

Before attending the signing ceremony on the manicured grounds of the Ministry of Defense, Sukampol accompanied Panetta as the secretary inspected the Thai guards of honor.

Later, after signing the 2012 Joint Vision Statement for the Thai-U.S. Defense Alliance, both men made statements to a room packed with journalists.

Panetta said he is honored to visit Thailand as the U.S. secretary of defense, and he thanked Sukampol for his hospitality.

"I also wanted to come here as secretary to affirm very strongly that the United States-Thailand defense alliance remains strong and remains one of our great alliances in this region," he added.

Thailand will be increasingly important in collective security efforts to promote peace and prosperity in the region, Panetta said, expressing appreciation to the minister and the Thai military for close cooperation and generous support offered to American forces over the years.

"Recognizing that our future prosperity and ... security are closely tied to that of the Asia-Pacific region, President [Barack] Obama has committed the United States to working even more closely with our friends and allies in this region," Panetta said, "deepening our engagement through diplomacy, through trade and through stronger military to military relations."

The president looks forward to further discussing these issues when he arrives here later this week to visit Bangkok on a trip that also will include visits to Rangoon, Burma, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

"America's engagement with Thailand is a crucial part of these broader efforts," Panetta said.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the communiqué signed in 1962 by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman, he added, an agreement that committed the nations to halting the spread of communism.

"Today the minister and I moved this alliance into the 21st century," Panetta said, "by signing a joint vision statement that will help pave the way for even stronger military-to-military ties as we adapt to the shared threats and challenges that we will face together in this region and in the future."

According to the new vision statement, U.S.-Thai defense cooperation will focus on four key areas:

-- Partnership for regional security in Southeast Asia;

-- Supporting stability in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond;

-- Bilateral and multilateral interoperability and readiness; and

-- Relationship building, coordination and collaboration at all levels.

Panetta's visit is the culmination of a year's worth of reinvigoration of the strategic part of the two nations' defense relationship, a senior defense official said in a background briefing earlier today for reporters traveling with the secretary.

On the operational side of the relationship, the militaries of the United States and Thailand are deeply engaged in massive exercises such as the Thai-led Cobra Gold, the world's largest multilateral military exercise and premier training event in Asia, the official said.

Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, called CARAT, is another area of cooperation, he added. This is a series of bilateral military exercises between the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps and the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. And Timor Leste joined the exercise for the first time this year.

The Thais like the engagement and they want more, the official said. "There's a big demand signal from the Thais to do more training, to come to our schools, to engage on the operational side and the classroom side as well as the strategic part," he added.

The relationship has also been reinvigorated, the official said, by a series of meetings and visits over the past several months between officials of each nation.

Panetta had a short encounter with Sukampol this year at the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security conference in Singapore. Then Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Bangkok in June and later received a reciprocal visit by his counterpart, Gen. Thanasak Patimaprakorn.

Other visits included one to Bangkok in July by Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, and a visit to Thailand last month by Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of U.S. Pacific Command. And in Washington last month, the U.S.-Thailand Defense Strategic Talks put Defense Department officials together with a senior-level Thai delegation, the official said.

This summer, Thai defense officials held a two-day conference on their role in the U.S. defense strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region, he added, and came away from it with interests that led to the updating of the Thai-U.S. defense alliance.

"As we focus on these areas of cooperation," Panetta said today, "I want to convey that the United States remains committed to helping the Thai military further develop its already impressive capabilities so that it can assume even greater security responsibilities in this region," particularly in maritime security, humanitarian relief and peacekeeping operations.

"Thailand is an important ally in the Asia-Pacific region," the secretary added, "and we look forward to strengthening that alliance to ensure the friendship and security of both our nations in the future."

GEN, DEMPSEY SEES GROWTH IN U.S.-THAILAND PARTNERSHIP

Photo Credit:  U.S. Department of Defense.
FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE 

Dempsey: U.S.-Thailand Partnership Holds Growth Potential

By Karen Parrish

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, June 5, 2012 - Geostrategic location and global commitment, paired with a maturing military and a growing economy, make longtime U.S. ally Thailand an attractive prospect for even greater bilateral cooperation, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today.

Dempsey left Thailand, the last stop on a weeklong Pacific visit, around midafternoon today local time, about a half-day ahead of the eastern United States. En route to Hawaii and then back to Washington, D.C., the chairman told American Forces Press Service the 179-year-plus U.S.-Thailand relationship is ripe for growth as the U.S. furthers its strategic rebalance in the Asia-Pacific region.

Thailand touches Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, with Vietnam, India and China not much further away. It also has an eastern coastline on the Gulf of Thailand -- opening into the South China Sea -- and a west coast on the Andaman Sea, also known as the Burma Sea.

"They're in an extraordinarily key location," Dempsey said of Thailand. Thailand's people have used their growing economic and military strength to expand beyond their borders as a contributor to global security efforts, he added.

"For example, just today while I was there, they had a company return from a peacekeeping mission in Sudan," the chairman said.

With stops on his Thailand visit including meetings with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Defense Minister Sukamphon Suwannathat, Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Thanasak Patimaprakorn and the Royal Thai army, navy and air force chiefs, Dempsey said he gained a thorough sampling of how Thailand's leaders view U.S. strategic goals.

"They're a very credible, welcoming military partner," he said, adding Thailand's location and growing economy make it likely the Southeast Asian nation will "be able to, over time, do more."

The chairman noted, "We're always eager to partner with nations who have the potential to continue to do more."

An area of potential growth for both Thailand and the United States is under discussion, Dempsey said. The two nation's militaries, he said, are examining concepts for a center of excellence in Thailand devoted to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The United States and Thailand co-host an annual military exercise, Cobra Gold, which began in 1980. The most recent of these exercises, held in January and February, drew Indonesian, Japanese, Malaysian, Singaporean and South Korean military participants.

The next Cobra Gold will serve as a proof of principle for the new center of excellence, Dempsey said. He acknowledged the two militaries haven't agreed on a framework yet, but noted a center of excellence typically brings together experts and resources to focus intensively on a particular problem set to achieve the fastest possible progress.

"This started with a conversation between the two heads of state, our president and the Thai prime minister, that then was passed to the military to develop a concept," the chairman explained. "So we've been talking conceptually. Cobra Gold will be a platform on which we can advance our thinking."

The new center may begin as a bilateral U.S.-Thai effort, or it could involve additional nations from the beginning, he said.

"We have to talk about the location, we have to talk about the size -- and we're not there yet, but that's the objective," the chairman added.

Dempsey noted severe weather and seismic events in the region have become increasingly common in recent years. He pointed out that the need to effectively anticipate and plan responses for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief needs "is one of those functions that nearly everyone can agree on."

Thailand is "perfectly placed" for a center than can pursue that function, he said.

"We think that they would be very interested in that," Dempsey said.

Beyond humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the chairman said, Thailand's officials share some common concerns with representatives he's spoken with this week from Japan, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

In all those places, he said, "there's a desire to improve on intelligence sharing, information sharing, maritime security, maritime awareness, counter-terror, counter-piracy, counter-narcotics and countering transnational organized crime."

These common interests provide United States' leaders opportunities to strengthen ties with nations and multinational organizations across the region, Dempsey said.

"As we rebalance ourselves, I think those interests in particular will provide the foundation on which we can build," the chairman said.

SECREATARY CLINTON SENDS BEST WISHES TO THAILAND ON SONGKRAN

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Songkran Festival - Thai New Year
Press Statement Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State Washington, DC
April 10, 2012
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Thailand on the occasion of Songkran.

The United States values our longstanding alliance and close ties with the people of Thailand. Working together, we have made progress on critical issues. Today, we are strengthening public health, building closer economic ties, and promoting a safe and secure region. We look forward to deepening our partnership even more for the benefit of both our people and the Asia-Pacific region we share.

As you celebrate this special occasion with family and friends, know that the United States stands with you, and we are committed to a brighter future for all of our people.