Thai Foreign Policy since October 1973

Abstract

While the change from a military dictatorship to a civilian government in October 1973 has affected the law and order situation of the country internally, no new direction in foreign policy seems to have surfaced. The exception, perhaps, is the adoption of a low posture in contrast to the enthusiasm displayed in the fifties to attain, if possible, a leading role in the region, since Thailand has never been colonized and ranks only after China and Japan as an independent country in Asia. The quiet retirement of the veteran diplomat Prince Wan Waithayakorn and the absence of the dynamic personality of Dr Thanat Khoman since November 1971, left a hiatus in initiative in Thai foreign policy. Now, a year after the October demonstrations, the Civil Service maxim carry on as usual may be said to sum marize Saranrom Palace's record of the past twelve months. In short, the thaw with the socialist governments including Peking, Hanoi and Pyongyang, begun during Thanom's r?gime, continues. An added new dimension consists of fending off any criticisms, justified or not, flung at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the highly vocal student bodies and press exercising their so-called democratic rights. Relations with the three superpowers may be described as follows: with the United States ? Thailand's own takes priority over the well-worn and often abused term of mutual interest ; with China ? renewing the interrupted dialogue begun by the Thanom Government, more frequent visits, and missions now led by Cabinet rank officials ; and, finally, with the Soviet Union ? cool and correct. In the mid-sixties, Thanat Khoman had already found American arrogance hard to bear. He initiated the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) and, together with the Philippines, called for an Asian solution to Asian problems. He also claimed that Asians must be masters of their own affairs. ASA folded up in 1967 when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was born. ASA had to sail in very rough seas because of the Indonesian-Malaysian confrontation. That and the Association's modest budget ? it refused to accept outside contributions ? were major factors in its limited achievements. Thanat Khoman's stand, in hindsight, might be called the forerunner of the Nixon Guam Doctrine. He advocated a reduction of the number of American troops in Thailand as far back as August 1969; formal talks took place a year later and the withdrawal of the first 6,000 Americans was agreed upon. The presence of foreign troops on Thai soil, especially in times of peace, never found favour with the Thai people. However, the subject was silenced in public by the simple method of equating it to anti-Americanism. Thus, anti-SEATO (South-East Asia Treaty Organization) or anti-American meant pro-communist, which was, and still is, an offence punishable by a jail sentence.