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| Image: Flickr User - U.S. Department of State |
By Shawn W. Crispin
US-Thai relations have entered a new tumultuous phase.
Thailand-United States relations have entered a new tumultuous phase, just two months after Washington’s appointment to Bangkok of a veteran diplomat with a remit to repair damaged ties. U.S. ambassador to Thailand Neil Davies’ innocuous remark on the ruling military junta’s unprecedented use of lese majeste charges to stifle free speech and imprison critics of the monarchy has sparked a firestorm of high-level rebukes and anti-U.S. protests calling for the senior envoy’s expulsion and an end to perceived American interference in domestic affairs.
Davies’ comment, made during a wide-ranging and mostly upbeat speech to Bangkok’s Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand on November 25, was couched in adulation for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who the envoy referred to as a U.S. “native son” in recognition of the 87-year-old Thai monarch’s birth in Boston. While the U.S. admires and respects Bhumibol, Davies said, it also believes no-one should be imprisoned for “peacefully” expressing their views. Thailand’s royalist junta deems any criticism of the crown as a threat to security and has harshly stifled public discussion of the monarchy ahead of a delicate royal succession. Bhumibol turns 88 on December 5 amid rising concerns for his faltering health.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha insinuated that Davies’ critical comment may jeopardize future trade relations, significantly at a time his government weighs whether to join the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral trade pact. Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, the junta’s deputy leader, told reporters Davies’ should “think twice” before speaking on monarchical matters. Royalist protesters, meanwhile, threatened to ramp up anti-U.S. actions if the junta failed to respond with sufficiently punitive measures. The protests were allowed to proceed despite the junta’s hard bans on free assembly and expression, hinting at official complicity in the nationalistic uproar.
Read the full story at The Diplomat