The highest ranking US officer to visit Thailand since the 2014 coup will attend the Cobra Gold war games next month in what the Thai army hailed on Wednesday as a sign of improving relations.
The US embassy confirmed that Admiral Harry Harris, the head of Pacific Command, would open Cobra Gold on Feb 14. More junior officers attended the exercise in the past two years.
Harris' attendance was planned before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, whose policy moves on Asia are closely watched after signals of potential confrontation with China over trade, Taiwan and claims in the South China Sea.
The United States scaled down its presence at Cobra Gold, Asia's largest annual multinational military exercise, as one of the former US administration's measures to pressure the Thai government to restore democracy.
The US embassy said Cobra Gold would only return to its original scope and scale once Thailand restores democracy.
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