The Thai military has not responded to an
appeal from the United States asking it to rejoin the annual Cobra Gold
military exercises, after Washington earlier threatened to relocate the
long-standing joint operation to Australia next year in response to the coup in
May.
A
high-ranking military source said Thailand had asked the US to explain in
writing why it wanted to resume the Cobra Gold exercises with Thailand, after
previously suggesting it might shift them elsewhere. The threat was an apparent
gesture of opposition to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)'s
seizure of power on May 22.
"It
was quite a strong reaction from the US in threatening to withdraw the Cobra
Gold [exercises] from Thailand, which we are fine with," the military
source said.
"We
are ready to conduct military exercises with member countries of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations [Asean], including Myanmar, along with
China and India, which have already said they are ready to take part," he
added.
"The
US has submitted a letter saying it will resume Cobra Gold jointly with
Thailand, but we have not responded to it. We have asked the US to explain in a
written statement why [it wants to resume the exercises]," the source
said.
There
are now a total of 3.5 billion people - the population of India, at 1.2
billion, China at 1.4 billion and the Asean countries, at 700 million - that
understand the situation in Thailand, the military source said. However, the
US, which has a 180-year-old relationship with Thailand, was among the first to
publicly oppose the coup, he added.
The
annual Cobra Gold military exercises began in 1982 and are the largest in the
Asia-Pacific region, with seven participating countries and 11 observing
countries, including China. This year’s exercises were conducted in February,
before the military seized power.
The
exercises have been conducted every year since they began without interruption.
They were even held in 2007, one year after a military coup led by retired Army
General Sonthi Boonyaratglin dislodged former prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra.
The
source said the NCPO had categorised foreign countries into three groups based
on their stance towards its coup: Asean countries, which he said were 100 per
cent supportive of the NCPO; countries that had not expressed a strong stance,
with which the NCPO was currently creating an understanding; and countries that
had openly opposed the coup.
"These
countries are speaking less about the power seizure - a response signifying
their better understanding of the situation in Thailand," the source said.
He said most Western countries had only decreased the level of their military relations
with Thailand, which he described as a testament to the NCPO's success in
foreign relations.
The US
government's lowering of Thailand on its human trafficking ranking had not
affected the country, he said. The NCPO was, however, disappointed by the
"unfair" move, he said.
A
decrease in Thai-US military cooperation would not affect the repair and
maintenance of US-made hardware and weapons in the Thai military inventory.
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