WRITER: KORNCHANOK RAKSASERI
ANALYSIS: Observers hope this year's exercise will provide signs on how future ties will evolve
As Cobra Gold, the biggest annual multilateral military exercise in the Asia-Pacific kicks off Tuesday, what the US Pacific Commander Admiral Harry B Harris Jr has to say during his visit to Thailand will be interesting.
Although the exercise is about Thai-US military cooperation, there might be some signals sent about US-Thai relations as a whole.
Admiral Harris is the highest ranking American official to visit Thailand since the military coup in 2014.
On Tuesday, he will meet the Chief of Defence Forces Gen Surapong Suwana-adth, before they launch the 36th Cobra Gold exercise in Sattahip, Chon Buri.
Later he will meet Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon at the Ministry of Defence before calling on Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House.
Nobody can be sure what will result from the meetings.
But at least, if cooperation for this year's regional exercise is used as a barometer for Thai-US relations, the atmosphere now is much better than it was two years ago.
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