Press Releases
Embassy of the United States of America
Bangkok
February 07, 2008
Ambassador Eric G. John Announces Lifting of Restrictions to Thailand
Yesterday, the Department of State certified to the U.S. Congress that a democratically elected government is in place in Thailand. As Thailand is a valued ally and long-time friend, we are excited by this development and congratulate the people of Thailand on the re-establishment of an elected government. This notification to Congress allows us to re-instate complete funding for our cooperative military programs with the Thai military.
The United States will again be able to fund military assistance programs such as International Military Exchange Training (IMET) programs, Foreign Military Financing (FMF), and the Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative (GPOI). With the reinstatement in funding for these programs, we look forward to building on the already close and mutually beneficial relationship that the U.S. has with Thailand. Resumption of these programs allows our two sides to work together to achieve our mutual goals, including peace and stability throughout the region.
As we confer with the Royal Thai Government to advance our relationship with a valued ally, one of the things I am happiest to announce is the upcoming visit at the end of this month by Ambassador Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, as well as the visit by Admiral Timothy Keating, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command. This will launch a robust schedule of U.S. government officials who plan to visit Thailand this year. We intend to capitalize on these visits to discuss ways to enhance the wide range of engagement with a valued ally and friend.
A principal topic of discussions during the visits of Ambassador Hill and Admiral Keating will be avenues to enhance our military engagement with Thailand. Our engagement with Thailand is mutually beneficial, and I want to emphasize that the Thai government and Thai armed forces’ cooperation with the U.S. military is deeply valued by the United States. Indeed, the cooperation and assistance that the Thai armed forces have so generously provided is uniquely important to the strategic goals of the U.S. military.
Thailand is one of our closest friends and partners in Asia and we have enjoyed relations with Thailand longer than any other country in Asia. As such, we are especially pleased to restore the full range of relations, especially as we celebrate 175 years of U.S. - Thai relations this year.
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