Bush, Thai leader to meet today

War on terrorism is likely focus of talks

By Rafael D. Frankel, Globe Correspondent, 6/10/2003

BANGKOK -- When President Bush and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand meet today at the White House, they will probably focus on Thailand's quiet cooperation in the war on terrorism -- the issue that has defined US relations with all Southeast Asian countries since Sept. 11, 2001.

As an ally since shortly after World War II, Thailand proved invaluable to the United States during the wars fought in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. In those years, the United States flew round-the-clock missions from Utapao air base 90 miles south of Bangkok, and American soldiers came to Thailand to rest and relax.

Although it is a poorly kept secret that Thailand allowed the United States to fly missions from Utapao in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the seemingly surreptitious nature of the country's help in the antiterrorism campaign has bothered some in the Bush administration, who point to the more open declaration of support from countries like Singapore.

Officially, Thailand stayed neutral in both recent US wars. That gave Thaksin breathing room as he contended with strong popular sentiment against the Iraq war. But it did not fit with the Bush administration's ''with us or against us'' policy, leading some analysts in Thailand to question whether the United States would agree to have Bush meet Thaksin during his first trip to Washington as head of state in December 2001, and again now. In the end, both meetings were set up, although today's is unofficial.

''To people who follow Thailand closely, we understand why Thaksin made his choice [on Iraq], and we are looking at what they're doing as opposed to what they're saying,'' a Western diplomat in Bangkok said, citing domestic pressures for Thailand's neutrality. ''They're doing everything [the United States] wants them to do except for publicly making the statement.''

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, US policy toward Southeast Asia has stressed one issue: support for the war on terrorism. Singapore and Malaysia earned high marks from the Americans when they foiled an attempt by Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian group linked to Al Qaeda, to blow up the American, Australian, and Israeli embassies in Singapore last year. Singapore earned extra favor for officially supporting the Iraq war. And because of its unwavering cooperation in fighting Al Qaeda, Malaysia, which vehemently opposed the Iraq war, is viewed favorably by the United States.

The war on terrorism has turned once implacable foes into cautious allies. Vietnam has cooperated, at least in words, with US efforts to hunt terrorists in the region, though it, too, opposed the Iraq war. And Cambodia, with a rapidly growing Muslim minority, recently arrested three men for suspected involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah: two Thais and an Egyptian who were teaching at an Islamic school there.

While Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand are all Buddhist nations, significant Muslim minorities exist in the latter two and in Singapore as well. Malaysia is mainly Muslim, while Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.

As a largely unregulated, free country at the crossroads of Southeast Asia, Thailand has played an unwitting role in international terrorism: Specialists said Jemaah Islamiyah uses Thailand as a transit point where its members can gather fake travel documents.

Intelligence officials said Jemaah Islamiyah members were in Thailand in January 2002 when they originally conceived the Bali, Indonesia, nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people in October.

Thailand is the big power in a region where the United States needs help combating terrorism and opium production. The United States also would like to stem the influence that China is increasingly wielding throughout Asia. The United States stages its annual Cobra Gold joint-military exercise with Thailand and Singapore in Thailand, enhancing US security standing in the region. It also has a large Drug Enforcement Administration operation in Thailand.

''Thailand is a longstanding friend and treaty ally with shared values and perceptions of security, and it shares a vision of the region with free trade and democracy,'' a spokesman for the US Embassy in Bangkok said yesterday.

The Bush administration is hoping to sign a deal with Thaksin in which Thailand would not send American suspects to the new International Criminal Court, which the United States refuses to recognize. In return, Bush will lobby Congress for Thailand to be designated a major non-NATO ally similar to the Philippines, which would ensure Thailand high levels of assistance in defense and security measures.

©2003 Globe Newspaper Company