Page 2 of 2 ASIA
HAND Thaksin's loss, US's
gain By Shawn W Crispin
military-related aid into the country
to develop a regional bulwark against the spread
of communism. During those decades of authoritarian
military rule, the US often assisted in
suppressing government opponents, including pro-democracy
activists, and the CIA frequently meddled
in Thailand's domestic politics. [2]
Fast-forward to the present, and it's no
surprise when a Bangkok-based US diplomat confirms
that US-Thai military-to-military
relations have remained
firmly "on track" despite the suspension in aid.
Noted one longtime Thai observer: "The US is
saying to itself: they may be generals, but
they're our generals."
Indeed, current
premier and former army commander General Surayud
Chulanont received military-college training in
the US and his presence in senior military
leadership positions was, according to one US
diplomat, a factor in Washington's 2003 decision
to elevate Thailand to the status of a major
non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally, a
distinction that paved the way for the country to
purchase state-of-the-art US military equipment,
including, presumably, the helicopters now
circling Bangkok on national-security patrols.
Former intelligence chief, new
constitution-drafting chairman and pivotal
behind-the-scenes coup maker Prasong Soonsiri was
trained and some say retained for a stint in the
1980s by the CIA, and is now known to have close
personal relations with US Ambassador to Thailand
Ralph "Skip" Boyce. The two developed their
friendship during the Thai-speaking Boyce's
previous two postings to Thailand.
Most
significant, perhaps, former prime minister and
current Chief Privy Councilor Prem Tinsulanonda,
seen by many as the mastermind behind last year's
coup, has strong Cold War ties to several senior
US Republican Party operators. During a private
dinner in 2000 sponsored by the Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International
Studies, in a speech Prem voiced his "heartfelt"
appreciation to Paul Wolfowitz, then the school's
dean, for his role in assisting Thailand after
Vietnamese communist troops invaded neighboring
Cambodia in 1979 and threatened to continue their
march into Thailand.
While publicly
condemning the Khmer Rouge for their atrocities,
the US simultaneously and clandestinely commenced
funneling so-called "non-lethal" supplies,
including radio equipment, to the murderous Maoist
group to help it hold the line against Vietnam on
Thailand's eastern border. It was a controversial
decision that re-cemented bilateral ties after a
rocky period when the US abruptly pulled out of
Thailand after the Vietnam War - lasting ties that
have influenced Washington's decision concerning
which side to take during Thailand's current
political standoff.
Repeating
history To some, the US has today made a
similarly controversial policy position in
supporting the coup makers who ousted a twice
democratically elected leader. While publicly
lamenting Thailand's retreat from democracy, and
more recently criticizing protectionist economic
policies that threaten certain US business
interests, in private US officials have
persistently reaffirmed to Thailand's ruling
generals Washington's long-term commitment to
keeping bilateral ties on track.
During
last November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
meeting in Hanoi, Bush met with Surayud on the
sidelines and conveyed that Washington
"understood" Thailand's political situation. The
following month, his father, former president
George H W Bush, paid a personal private visit to
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej - widely
viewed in Thailand as a symbolic endorsement of
the royalist coup.
For Washington, last
year's military takeover has presented a unique
opportunity to steal a march from China, which
through soft economic power has seen Beijing
consolidate strong alliances in neighboring
Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. It is therefore no
coincidence that Thaksin, spurned by what he
perceived to be his former US ally, has chosen to
launch his anti-junta propaganda campaign, in
attempted divide-and-rule fashion, from China and
Singapore.
In recent interviews with the
mainstream Western media, Thaksin has endeavored -
doubtless at the advice of his Washington-based
private lobbyists and public relations consultants
who arranged the appointments - to portray himself
poignantly as a popularly elected leader who has
been ousted through illegal means.
International publications, including
those previously sharply critical of Thaksin's
style of governance, have dutifully played up
those themes - though at the time of the coup
Thaksin was no longer legally Thailand's elected
leader after annulled democratic elections in
April, and in spite of his illiberal record of
promoting extrajudicial killings of drug suspects
and disappearances of Muslim militant suspects,
and his systematic and punitive suppression of
press freedom.
More seasoned observers
draw parallels between Thaksin's current
propaganda pitch with former Thai fascist leader
Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram, who from exile in
the 1940s criticized the monarchy and portrayed
himself as a man of the people, and who on
retaking power years later presided over a
hard-knuckled, illiberal and corrupt military-led
regime that at times ran counter to Washington's
wishes. [3] Washington, it appears, has come to a
similar conclusion about Thaksin's usefulness to
the United States' future interests.
One
well-placed source close to Ambassador Boyce says
that the US no longer views Thaksin as a
"political factor" and that to date Washington
believes the junta is doing a "satisfactory" job
of administering the country. Should Boyce be
proved wrong and one day Thaksin return to
political prominence - perhaps hypothetically
after the passing of King Bhumibol - the US can
probably count on a piqued Thaksin avenging the
perceived snub by moving Thailand closer into
China's regional orbit.
It's a
calculated risk Washington is clearly willing to
take and, at least for now, Thaksin's loss is the
United States' gain.
Notes 1. Although Thaksin pledged
allegiance to his US roots during a visit to his
alma mater Sam Houston State University, where he
joked that Texas was his second home, many
perceived his pilgrimage to the grave markers of
his ancestors in China's Fujian province as the
more meaningful personal connection.
2.
See Daniel Fineman's excellent A Special
Relationship: The United States and Military
Government in Thailand, 1947-1958, University
of Hawaii Press, 1997.
3. When Phibun was
subsequently ousted in an internal 1957 putsch led
by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, who more than
Phibun favored the United State's
foreign-investment-led development model, the US
State Department issued a statement three days
later affirming the military coup would not alter
bilateral relations.
Shawn W Crispin is
Asia Times Online's Southeast Asia editor.
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
