“21ST CENTURY” ALLY
Thailand is America’s oldest ally in Asia, famously offering elephants to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, but has also increasingly worked with China.
Blinken visited days after a stop by Wang, who has embarked on a more extensive tour of Southeast Asia in which he has highlighted Beijing’s lavish infrastructure spending.
Signing an agreement pledging to keep expanding ties, Blinken pointed to Thailand’s embrace of a new US-led economic plan for Asia as well as its efforts on climate change.
In Thailand, “we have an ally and partner in the Indo-Pacific of such importance to us in a region that is shaping the trajectory of the 21st century, and it is doing that every single day”, Blinken said.
The United States has identified China, with its authoritarian system and burgeoning technological and military resources, as its pre-eminent global rival but both nations have recently sought to lower the temperature, as seen in the unusually long five-hour meeting on Saturday between Wang and Blinken.
In Bangkok, Blinken met with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who called the trip a “happy occasion” and saluted the “close and cordial relations” with the United States.
Blinken’s trip marks a continued normalisation of the US relationship with Thailand under Prayut, who led a military coup that ousted the government in 2014, triggering US sanctions.
Prayut became prime minister in 2019 elections, which have ushered in a gradual return to open political discourse.
In a joint statement signed by Blinken and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, the United States and Thailand called democracy “essential” to the two countries’ idea of Asia.
“Strong democratic institutions, independent civil society, and free and fair elections are central to this vision, allowing our respective societies to reach their full potential,” it said.
Addressing one issue that is a high priority for President Joe Biden’s administration, the statement said Washington and Bangkok would promote “open and inclusive societies” for LGBTQ people.
Blinken also praised Thailand for signing up to a Biden plan to connect Southeast Asia with companies that are promoting green energy, saying that firms have already promised US$2.7 billion in the country.
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