Page 18 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL11

I think it is overly simplistic to look at this as a game between China and the US and in which camp Thailand is going to bedrills with a non-elected government. Ambassador Davies said Cobra Gold operations would resume next year after elections.But will the exercise be as meaningful? Thailand and China have also been discussing joint military drills. The ambassador insists the US does not think it is going to lose Thailand to China, recounting the origin of relations between the US and Siam, which started in the early 1800s during the time of President James Monroe and King Rama III.“I think it is overly simplistic to look at this as a game between China and the US and in which camp Thailand is going to be,” he said. “Thailand is not going to be in anybody’s camp. The Kingdom has always maintained its independence. We are all for a healthy relationship between Thailand and her neighbours,and it is healthy for Thailand to have a good relationship with China. We are assured of working side by side with Thailand because this country has been a long-time ally and our relationship started almost two centuries ago when it took more than a year and a half to get a message across the ocean from Bangkok to Washington, DC.”The ambassador emphasizes the history of bilateral relations in order to boost present and future ties. “Our relations began not as a fruit of conquest in a colonial war, or geopolitics. It began because the King of Siam and President Monroe saw a partner with whom they could find mutual benefit, and they saw in each other people, citizens who value independence and freedom. That essence is not going away.“Thailand is fiercely independent in the sense of a free country. The16 Elite+