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Thailand

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Overview

Located in Southeast Asia, on the Malay Peninsula, Thailand was originally settled more than half a million years ago. Thai kingdoms ruled the land, establishing Theravada Buddhism as the country’s official religion and developing a code of laws, until the 19th century. Europeans, especially the Portuguese, had contact with Thailand as early as the 16th century. In 1826, Thailand signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United Kingdom, and in 1833, the US established diplomatic relations with Thailand (then known as Siam). Thailand was transformed from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy in 1932, as the result of a bloodless coup. Several more followed in the years leading up to World War II, when the Japanese occupied the country.

 
In the mid-1970s, civilian democratic political institutions gained greater authority, but the political situation remained unstable, as coup after coup kept any given leader from establishing control. On September 19, 2006, a group of top military officers overthrew the caretaker administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, repealed the constitution, and abolished both houses of Parliament. A new constitution was approved in 2007 by popular vote, and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was elected on December 15, 2008, as prime minister. His government, however, has been dogged by protests. A secessionist movement in the southern part of the country, comprised of Malay separatists, continues to threaten the government’s authority. Thailand continues to have good relations with the US and other Western nations. Yet, recent controversies have included the sale of shrimp produced by Thai slave labor, the expelling of American journalists for writing negative stories about the Thai royal family, and the compulsory licensing of major American drugs in Thailand by the military junta interim government.
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Basic Information

Lay of the Land: Thailand, located in Southeast Asia, has been likened to the head of an elephant. The “trunk” extends along southeastern Burma, down the Malay Peninsula, and stops at the northern border of Malaysia. The “head” is circled by Burma on the west, Laos on the northwest, Cambodia on the east, and the Gulf of Thailand (Pacific Ocean) on the south. Peninsular Thailand is covered with tropical rain forest, and the northern section is mountainous. Central Thailand, the Chao Phraya river basin, is a rich agricultural zone, while the northeastern region consists primarily of a plateau forming part of the Mekong River watershed.

 
Population: 65.5 million
 
Religions: Theravada Buddhist 83.1%, Sunni Muslim 9.1%, Ethnoreligious 2.5%, Christian 1.7%, Chinese Universalist 0.8%, Confucianist 0.4%, Baha’i 0.2%, Hindu 0.2%, Sikh 0.1%, non-religious 2.0%.
 
Ethnic Groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, Other 11%.
 
Languages: Thai (official) 31.1%, Northeastern Thai 23.1%, Northern Thai 9.2%, Southern Thai 7.7%, Pattani Malay 4.8%, Northern Khmer 1.7%, Min Nan Chinese 1.7%, Karen (Phrae Pwo, Northern Pwo, S’gaw) 0.6%, Hmong (Daw, Njua) 0.1%. There are 74 living languages in Thailand.
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History

Thailand has been inhabited for more than half a million years. Archeological evidence suggests that early civilizations relied on Bronze Age technology and the cultivation of wet rice. During the 6th and 7th centuries, migrations from southern China brought Tai people to the region now known as Thailand. The Tai mixed with the Malay, Mon and Khmer civilizations.

 
In the 13th century, the Thai nation was founded. Thai chieftains overthrew their Khmer overlords at Sukothai and established a Thai kingdom in 1238. This lasted until 1350, when a new Thai kingdom emerged on the Chao Praya River. Another kingdom, called Lanna, governed the northern part of the country.
 
King Rama Thibodi was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. He made two important contributions to Thai history: the establishment of Theravada Buddhism as the country’s official religion, and the development of a legal code called the Dharmashastra. These laws remained part of Thai society until the 19th century.
 
In the 16th century, the Portuguese established contact with Thailand, but until the 1800s, Thailand’s relations with neighboring kingdoms and China were of primary importance. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya remained in power for 400 years, until 1767, when invading Burmese armies burned the capital.
 
A new capital city was founded in 1782, across the Chao Praya River at the site of the present-day city of Bangkok. The first Chakri king was crowned Rama I, whose heirs became increasingly concerned with the threat of European colonialism after British victories in neighboring Burma in 1826.
 
In 1826, Thailand signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United Kingdom. In 1833, the US began diplomatic relations with Siam (Thailand’s former name until 1938). During the reigns of Rama IV (or King Mongkut, 1851-1868), and his son Rama V (King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910), Thailand began to deepen relations with the West. Many believed these positive relations helped Thailand avoid European colonization.
 
In 1932, a bloodless coup transformed the government of Thailand from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) accepted his position, but surrendered the throne to his 10-year old nephew. Subsequently, the country was ruled by a series of military governments, interspersed with brief periods of democracy. A series of mostly bloodless coups changed the Thailand leadership several times before World War II, when the Japanese occupied the country.
 
During the mid-1970s, civilian democratic political institutions slowly gained greater authority, culminating in 1988 when Chatichai Choonavan, leader of the Thai Nation Party, assumed office as the country’s first democratically elected prime minister in more than a decade. Three years later, yet another bloodless coup ended his term.
 
Shortly afterward, the military appointed Anand Panyarachun, a businessman and former diplomat, to head a largely civilian interim government and promised to hold elections in the near future. However, following inconclusive elections, former army commander Suchinda Kraprayoon was appointed prime minister. Thais reacted to the appointment by demanding an end to military influence in government. Demonstrations were violently suppressed by the military; in May 1992, soldiers killed at least 50 protesters.
 
Suchinda was forced to resign as a result of the violence. Anand Panyarachun was named interim prime minister. In the September 1992 elections, the political parties that had opposed the military won by a narrow majority. Chuan Leekpai, a leader of the Democratic Party, became prime minister. Chuan dissolved Parliament in May 1995. Party leader Banharn Silpa-Archa became prime minister, but held the office only little more than a year. Following elections held in November 1996, Chavalit Youngchaiyudh formed a coalition government and became prime minister.
 
The onset of the Asian financial crisis caused a loss of confidence in the Chavalit government and forced him to hand over power to Chuan Leekpai in November 1997. Chuan formed a coalition government based on the themes of prudent economic management and institution of political reforms mandated by Thailand’s 1997 constitution.
 
In January 2001, telecommunications multimillionaire Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party won a decisive victory on a populist platform of economic growth and development. Thaksin was re-elected in February 2005 elections, but soon after his second term began, allegations of corruption emerged. Peaceful anti-government mass demonstrations grew, and thousands marched in the streets to demand Thaksin’s resignation. Prime Minister Thaksin dissolved the Parliament in February 2006 and declared snap elections in April. The main opposition parties boycotted the polls, and the judiciary subsequently annulled the elections.
 
On September 19, 2006, a group of top military officers overthrew the caretaker administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, repealed the constitution, and abolished both houses of Parliament. Soon thereafter, the coup leaders promulgated an interim constitution and appointed Surayud Chulanont as interim prime minister. In a national referendum on August 19, 2007, a majority of Thai voters approved a new constitution that re-organized Thai elections. It was drafted by the military junta amid controversy, in part because it outlawed criticizing the draft. A referendum for the constitution was passed by 59.3% of voters.
 
People’s Power Party (PPP) leader Samak Sundaravej formed a coalition government and formally took office as prime minister on February 6, 2008.
 
Samak was forced out of office in September by a Constitutional Court ruling that he had violated the constitution’s conflict-of-interest provisions by hosting a televised cooking show. His successor, Somchai Wongsawat, PPP leader and brother-in-law of former Prime Minister Thaksin, also was forced out of office by the Constitutional Court when it dissolved the PPP and two other coalition parties on December 2 for election law violations. Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was elected on December 15, 2008.
 
The new government was dogged by protests throughout 2008 and 2009, some of which led to violence. In 2008, anti-government protesters occupied the Government House from late August until December, and briefly seized a television station in August, blockaded parliament in October, and forced the closure of Bangkok’s airports for several days in late November through early December.
 
Following violent clashes between pro-Thaksin and pro-Abhisit supporters, in April 2009, Abhisit declared a state of emergency and censored the media.
 
A secessionist movement has grown along Thailand’s southern border. Since 2004, violent ethnic Malay separatists have conducted an insurgency in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, and Songkhla against symbols and representatives of government authority. Citizens have sometimes been attacked, and hundreds have died.
 
April 2010 saw a new wave of violent protests lead by the Red Shirt oppositionists. The protests resulted in 87 civilian and military deaths and 1,378 injuries. The army tried to disperse the protestors, but was met with violence. In addition, government offices and government officials' homes were bombed and attacked.
 
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy that is run under a parliamentary democratic system. Democratically-elected offices include the House of Representatives, the Senate, and local administrations. Voting in Thailand is mandatory, and all elections are overseen by the Election Commission of Thailand, which has intervened in multiple Thai elections by mandating re-elections and disqualifying certain candidates. Re-elections will be held December 12 to replace MPs disqualified for holding shares in private companies.
 
A Country Study: Thailand (Library of Congress)
History of Thailand (Wikipedia)
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History of U.S. Relations with Thailand

On March 20, 1833, the United States and Thailand (then Siam) signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, the United States’ first treaty with a country in Asia.

 
Since World War II, the United States and Thailand have developed close relations. Several bilateral treaties and mutual participation in United Nations multilateral activities and agreements have deepened them, including the 1966 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations,  facilitating trade. Other important agreements address civil uses of atomic energy, sales of agricultural commodities, investment guarantees, and military and economic assistance.
 
The United States and Thailand are among the signatories of the 1954 Manila Pact of the former Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Article IV (1) of this treaty provided that, in the event of armed attack in the treaty area (which includes Thailand), each member would “act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.”
 
Despite the dissolution of the SEATO in 1977, the Manila pact remained in force and, together with the Thanat-Rusk Communique of 1962, constituted the basis of US security commitments to Thailand. Thailand continued to be a key security ally in Asia, along with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.
 
The US has extended financial assistance to Thailand in various fields, including rural development, health, family planning, education, and science and technology. The formal US Agency for International Development (USAID) program ended in 1995. However, there are a number of targeted assistance programs which continue in areas of mutually defined importance, including: health and HIV/AIDS programming; refugee assistance; and trafficking in persons.
 
 
Thailand has also received US military equipment, essential supplies, training, and assistance in the construction and improvement of facilities and installations since 1950. US security assistance has included military training programs carried out in the United States and elsewhere. A small US military advisory group in Thailand also oversaw the delivery of equipment to the Thai Armed Forces, and the training of Thai military personnel in its use and maintenance.
 
Thais began immigrating to the US after the 1960s. After the Vietnam War, many US soldiers brought Thai wives back from their tours of duty in Southeast Asia, and large Thai populations exist around military installations throughout the US. California (primarily Los Angeles) is home to the largest Thai community in the US, while New York (New York City) and Texas (Houston and Dallas) have the second and third biggest Thai populations.
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Current U.S. Relations with Thailand

 

Noted Thai-Americans:
Athletics
Eldrick “Tiger” Woods- the mother of the world’s most famous golfer was born in Thailand. Woods’ middle name, Tont, is Thai.
Johnny Damon- MLB left fielder. During his playing career he played with the Kansas City Royals, the Oakland Athletics, the Boston Red Sox, and the New York Yankees. His mother is Thai and his parents met when his father, an Army sergeant, was stationed in Thailand.
Kevin Kaesviharn- is an American football safety for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League.
Eric Koston- is a professional skateboarder who grew up in San Bernardino, California. His parents met when his father was stationed in Thailand with the US Air Force, and Eric was born in Thailand.
Stacy Prammanasudh- is a Thai-American golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. Her Thai father served as her caddy for the first five years of her professional career.
 
Politics
Tammy Duckworth- is the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. She is an Iraq war veteran and former U.S. helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs during combat. Her mother was an ethnic Chinese Thai citizen, and Duckworth was born in Bangkok.
 
Entertainment
Michael Chaturantabut- is an actor best known for his role as Chad Lee, the Blue Ranger in Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue.
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong- is a writer. She currently is the executive story editor and co-producer for Family Guy.
Lada Engchawadechasilp- is a Thai-American who represented Thailand in the 2001 Miss World pageant, the first non-Thai citizen to do so. A graduate of University of California, Los Angeles, she is currently a financial planning specialist with Smith Barney in San Francisco.
 
 
In December 2003, Thailand was designated a Major Non-NATO Ally by the Bush administration.
 
In June 2004, the United States and Thailand began negotiations on a free trade agreement that would reduce and eliminate barriers to trade and investment between the two countries. These negotiations were placed on hold following the dissolution of the Thai Parliament in February 2006, and the subsequent coup.
 
Funding for the International Military Education and Training and the Foreign Military Financing programs, along with selected other programs totaling $29 million, was suspended following the September 19, 2006, coup d’état in Thailand, but resumed after a democratically elected government took office in February 2008.
 
As part of their mutual defense cooperation over the last decade, Thailand and the United States have developed a vigorous joint military exercise program, which engages all the services of each nation and averages 40 joint exercises per year.
 
Thailand remains a trafficking route for narcotics from the Golden Triangle to both the domestic and international markets. The United States and Thailand work closely together with the United Nations on a broad range of programs to stop drug trafficking and other criminal activity, such as trafficking in persons. The US supports the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok, which provides counter-narcotics and anti-crime capacity-building programs to law enforcement and judicial officials from a number of regional countries.
 
The US Peace Corps in Thailand has approximately 100 volunteers, focused on primary education, with an integrated program involving teacher training, health education, and environmental education.
 
In the 2000 US census, 112,989 people identified themselves as being of Thai ancestry.
 
In 2006, 640,674 Americans visited Thailand. Except for a dip in 2003 (459,862 tourists), tourism has grown consistently since 2002, when 509,841 Americans went to Thailand.
 
In 2006, 69,236 Thais visited the US. The number of tourists has stayed around 65,000 in recent years.
Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations (by Emma Chanlett-Avery, Congressional Research Service) (pdf)
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Where Does the Money Flow

Thailand represents a major source of US imports from Asia. In 2009, the United States imported $19.1 billion in goods from the Southeast Asian country.

 
Top imported products in 2009 included fish and shellfish ($2 billion), telecommunications equipment, ($1.7 billion), semiconductors and related devices ($776 million), jewelry watches, and rings, ($766 million), feedstuff and food grains ($450.3 million), crude oil ($446.1 million), and natural rubber and similar gums ($294.1 million).
 
American exports to Thailand totaled $6.9 billion in 2009, signaling a drop from 2008’s total ($9.1 billion).
 
In 2009, top US exports to Thailand included semiconductors ($1.1 billion), computer accessories ($415.3 million), telecommunications material ($268.2 million), soybeans ($232.8 million), and plastic materials ($202.9 million),
 
Shrimp Sold in US Produced by Slave Labor
In April 2008, a three-year investigation by the The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)-affiliated Solidarity Center found several leading US retailers selling shrimp from plants in Thailand and Bangladesh where workers as young as eight years old were subjected to sweatshop conditions. Some of the United States’ most popular retailers, including Wal-Mart, Costco and Trader Joe’s, received the shrimp. Wal-Mart denied that its supply chain contained shrimp affected by sub-standard labor practices, but the report showed that many of the workers in the shrimp plants had been trafficked to the country to work for little or no money, often in unsafe conditions. Officials promised to take a closer look at these plants, in order to stop the flow of the tainted product.
 
The US State Department stated in a 2009 report that there is no way of seeing how many people in Thailand are subject to forced labor. American officials have praised Thailand for stepping up on crackdowns, but also acknowledge that forced labor is an especially big problem in the seafood industry.
Report Ties US Retailers to Sweatshop Shrimp (by Zain Verjee, Elise Labott, Justine Redman and Kocha Olarn, CNN)
 
The US Congress requested $16.8 million in aid for Thailand for 2010, primarily divided between development assistance ($6.15 million), international narcotics control and law enforcement ($1.7 million) and foreign military financing ($1.1 million). The largest overall aid category is peace and stabilization, which totals $7.5 million. 
 
The 2011 Congressional budget is expected to decrease US funding to Thailand  $3.3 million to a total of $13.5 million. Peace and security will receive $7.5 million (compared to $10.8 million in 2010), the largest portion of which will be going towards stabilization operations and security sector reform. Thai governing efforts will receive $4.5 million, and health investments will receive $1.5 million.
 
Thailand also receives funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) outside of the Foreign Operations budget.
 
Thailand Profile (BUYUSA.gov)
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Controversies

Thailand’s Military Junta Outlaws Foreign Drugs

In March 2007, the military junta interim government in Thailand stirred up controversy by proposing caps on foreign ownership of Thai companies and saying it would strip key drugs of their patent protection in order to give away generic versions. The drugs included Sustiva, Plavix and Aventis SA, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb. This is known as compulsory licensing, and is legal under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in medical emergencies. It is opposed by major drug companies, which have argued that the decision could slow the influx of foreign capital to the region. The pharmaceutical market in Thailand is currently dominated by generics. The largest domestic drug manufacturer is the Government Pharmaceutical Office (GPO). The government has a near monopoly over the public hospital sector in the country and public hospitals are legally forced to purchase 80% of their drugs from the GPO.
 
Thailand has most recently ignored the patents on some cancer drugs, highlighting the debate over keeping access to drugs while helping pharmaceutical firms maintain profits to promote future research. In December 2009, UNITAID announced its plans to establish a patent pool for AIDS medicine, which would allow for generic manufacturing and selling of drugs from different countries to be combined into a single treatment for poorer countries. Thailand is an especially big hot spot in the drug licensing debate because many tourists go there to get otherwise expensive medical procedures performed at low costs.
Thailand Business Climate Still Uncertain (by David Armstrong, San Francisco Chronicle)
 
American Journalists Expelled from Thailand
In February 2002, Thai officials ordered two journalists working for an American newspaper to leave the country because they wrote controversial articles about the Thai royal family. Shawn Crispin and Briton Rodney Tasker, reporters for the Wall Street Journal and its sister publication the Far Eastern Economic Review, were declared a threat to national security after they wrote a story about a tongue-lashing the country’s prime minister received from the hugely popular Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The article was immediately banned. Thailand’s National Police Chief said that the story was inaccurate and demanded a written, public apology. The US State Department raised concerns, and urged Thailand to uphold its reputation for press freedom. Other senior members of the Dow Jones, parent company of the Wall Street Journal, were blacklisted by the government.
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Human Rights

According to the U.S. State Department, conditions have remained relatively unchanged despite the political instability Thailand has faced the past two years. Security forces persisted with their abusive force and some were connected to extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings. In the southern part of Thailand violence by ethnic Malay separatist insurgents against symbols and representatives of the government, as well as against civilians, has resulted in hundreds of killings in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, and Songkhla.

 
According to the Ministry of Interior's Investigation and Legal Affairs Bureau, between January and November 2009, 733 persons died in prison, and 24 were in  police custody.
 
According to the State Department, there were no confirmed reports indicating any political motivation linked with the killings committed by the government or its agents. Nonetheless, security forces continued to demonstrate unwarranted and deadly force against criminal suspects. The murders were oftentimes linked to numerous extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings, including murders committed by security force personnel acting in a private capacity.
 
The Justice Ministry's investigation committee was able to gather evidence regarding the extrajudicial killings. It is reported at least 1,300 people died within the three-month "War on Drugs" campaign in 2003. In January 2008, a self-governing commission reviewed the ongoing killings and released a report insisting on further investigation of the murders without holding anyone accountable. The commission separated at the end of the interim government’s term, yet were secretive to the public about their findings and investigations as they were deemed very confidential.
 
According to the State Department, during a session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) conducted on June 3, 2009, the Asian Legal Resource Centre expressed apprehension over the government's lack of proceedings of the investigation of the extrajudicial killings. The government insisted that more than 50 law enforcement officers had been prosecuted for their wrongdoing, but due to conflict of communication, human rights and legal aid groups in Bangkok were unaware of these prosecutions.
 
According to investigations made by the Thailand Mine Action Center in 2008, two deaths were reported in the Sisaket Province of Thailand due to landmine accidents.
 
According to the 2009 State Department Human Rights Report, authorities assert that there were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. In addition, there were no confirmed reports that proved the disappearance of suspects after being questioned by security officials in the southern provinces of the Thailand. Reports did however reveal that there are continued investigations of the individuals who were believed to have been killed by obvious extrajudicial proceedings following their participation in army-sponsored reeducation centers.
 
Investigations specifically pinpoint any findings that suggest any torture and other cruel inhuman punishment occurred in the governmental facilities. According to the 2009 Human Rights Report, the constitution specifically prohibits inhuman and degrading practices, but spectators notice there is no law that specifically prohibits torture, thus many assert torture is not punishable as a crime under criminal law. Nevertheless, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and legal entities continued to report that members of the police and military occasionally tortured and beat suspects to obtain confessions—an act they feel should be recognized as cruel treatment. Newspaper articles reported on numerous cases in which citizens accused police and other security officials of using brutality. Further Investigations commenced following the newspaper reports. It is noted that as a result of the reports made by the mass media (especially Newspaper), accused police officers were suspended and pending the results of internal investigations. At year's end no military personnel had been charged or prosecuted.
 
 Prison and Detention Center Conditions
The following summarizes the State Department’s Human Rights Report on Thailand.
 
Prison conditions were poor due to overcrowding, insufficient sleeping accommodations, inadequate medical care, and widespread accessibility to communicable diseases. In 2009, there were 200,000 prisoners in facilities designed to hold 100,000. Oftentimes, seriously ill prisoners were transferred to provincial or state hospitals.
 
According to the 2009 Human Rights Report, prison authorities sometimes used solitary confinement at least once a month to punish male prisoners who consistently violated prison rules or policies. The Department of Corrections ensures that the average confinement was approximately seven days and is protected by law. Prison authorities also used heavy leg irons to control prisoners who were considered likely to escape or dangerous to other prisoners.
 
Approximately 14  percent of the 2009 prison population consisted of pretrial detainees, or suspects expecting a trial in the future (may be innocent). Nonetheless, pretrial detainees were not separated from the general prison population. Men, women, and children often were detained together in police station cells pending indictment. Separate facilities for juvenile offenders were available in all provinces, but in some locations juveniles were detained with adults due to unavailability.
 
Conditions in immigration detention centers (IDCs) remained poor as well. The Immigration Police Bureau, under supervision of the Office of the Prime Minister, administered IDCs, which were not subject to many of the regulations that governed the regular prison system. There were convincing reports in some IDCs that assert guards physically abusing detainees. Furthermore, overcrowding and a lack of basic medical care continued to be serious problems.
 
A total of 158 refugees were recognized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This included 80 children. Authorities permitted the beginning of a construction to ease overcrowding, which begun late August. However, at year’s end authorities continued to prohibit resettlement processing or to release of the refugees.
 
Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution specifically prohibits random arrests and imprisonment unless a warrant is granted; however, government forces overlooked this rule and occasionally arrested and detained persons arbitrarily. The Lawyer’s Council of Thailand received 115 complaints in 2009 from residents complaining about security force operations and improper searches and arrests.
 
Arrest and Detention
The law requires police to obtain a warrant from a judge before making an arrest. Issuing arrest warrants has been subject to misuse by police officers who have reportedly provided false evidence to courts to obtain arrest warrants. According to the State Department report, legal aid organizations noted that in 2007 the Yala Provincial Court permitted 390 of 392 requests for arrest warrants under the emergency decree and granted all requests for search warrants.
 
The law requires police to submit criminal cases to prosecutors for the filing of court charges within 48 hours of arrest, and allowing for extensions of up to three days. Prosecutors may file for court permission to extend detentions for additional periods to further conduct investigations. The report stated that lawyers reported that police rarely brought cases to court within the 48-hour period.
 
Amnesty
According to the 2009 report at year's end, authorities had released approximately 31,000 prisoners pardoned by the king as part of a royal amnesty marking his 80th birthday in December 2007.
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Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Thai constitution calls for an independent judiciary. Yet, it has been subject to corruption and outside influences. According to human rights groups, “the lack of progress in several high-profile cases involving alleged abuse by the police and military diminished the public's trust in the justice system and discouraged some victims of human rights abuses (or their families) from seeking justice”.
 
Thai justice system consists of three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court of Justice compose the civilian judicial system. In addition there is a Constitutional Court, which interprets the constitution, and the Supreme Administrative Court, which determines cases involving government officials or state agencies.
 
 Trial Procedures
Trial procedure does not include trial by jury. A single judge determines trials for misdemeanors. Two or more judges are required during the trial for more serious cases. The constitution calls for a prompt trial, but a large amount of cases have accumulated remained in the court system for longer periods of time. Most trials are public, but the court may order a closed trial. The court may chose to close the trial in particular cases that may involve national security, the royal family, children, or sexual abuse.
 
Thai law provides for the presumption of innocence. In criminal courts, defendants have a broad range of legal rights, which includes access to a lawyer of their choosing.
 
 Political Prisoners and Detainees
According to the State Department, there were no reports of political prisoners or detainees.
 
Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflict
In the southern part of Thailand violence by ethnic Malay separatist insurgents against symbols and representatives of the government, as well as against civilians, has resulted in hundreds of killings in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, and Songkhla. Death and injuries were carried out daily bombings and attacks by insurgents.
 
According to the State Department, the emergency decree in effect for Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and three districts of Songkhla gives military, police, and civilian authorities significant powers to restrict certain basic rights and delegates certain internal security powers to the armed forces. Security forces are further protected with immunity from prosecution by the decree.
 
 Killings
Security forces continued to demonstrate unwarranted and deadly force against criminal suspects. The murders were often times linked to numerous extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings, including murders committed by security force personnel acting in a private capacity.
 
Government involvements with separatists were accused of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture of individuals.
 
 Child Soldiers
According to the State Department and Human rights organizations, there were reports that separatist groups recruited teenagers under the age of 18 to carry out attacks. A human rights organization asserted that separatists used private Islamic schools to brainwash ethnic Muslim Malay children with a separatist goals.
 
 Internet Freedom
There were some reports of government monitoring of Internet chat rooms and restrictions on access to the Internet. However, individuals and groups could engage in peaceful expression via Internet.
 
 Protection of Refugees
According to the State report, Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol, which not provide for granting asylum or refugee status. Nevertheless, they continue to host a significant number of refugees.
 
Women
Rape is illegal. The criminal code permits authorities to prosecute spousal rape. According to the Ministry of Public Health, between October 2008  and December,2009 the police estimated that 10,206 women and children were sexually abused, including 1,938 women more than 18 years old, and 8,268 children.
 
Trafficking in Persons
A new antitrafficking law came into force on June 5, 2008, and the government has continued trying to fully implement the law. The comprehensive law extends the definition to include trafficking with the intent of labor exploitation and the trafficking of males. Previously the laws were only defined by sexual exploitation and allowed only women and children to be classified as victims. 
 
According to the State Department, from July 2005 to June 2007 police reported 144 trafficking-in-persons cases were filed in the judicial system. The 12-month period preceding July police reported arrests of 5,012 offenders. The arrests included 159 transnational crimes in human trafficking, 4,780 transnational crimes in labor fraud, 19 transnational crimes in sexual exploitation, and 54 other crimes.
 
The 1951 antislavery law resulted in a conviction for the first time in mid-2006 when the employer of an abused domestic servant was found guilty of enslavement.
 
Indigenous People
Members of hill tribes who are not citizens continue to face restrictions on their migration, land ownership, access to credit from banks, and lack of protection by labor laws, including minimum wage requirements. They were also excluded from state welfare services like universal health care.
 
 Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination
Intensive educational outreach efforts have reduced the stigma within some communities, but persons with HIV/AIDS continue to face the psychological stigma associated with the disease. According to the State Department, there have been reports of employers refusing to hire persons who were HIV-positive after an employer-mandated blood screening. The Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS reported that an estimated 7,000 businesses pledged not to require HIV/AIDS tests for employees and promised to hold awareness campaigns.
 
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Debate
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Past Ambassadors

John A. Halderman
Appointment: Jul 13, 1882
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 23, 1882
Termination of Mission: Left post Apr 1, 1885
Note: Commissioned to Siam.

 
Jacob T. Child
Appointment: Mar 9, 1886
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 5, 1886
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Jan 17, 1891
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Alexander C. Moore
Appointment: Jul 9, 1890
Note: Declined appointment.
 
Sempronius H. Boyd
Appointment: Oct 1, 1890
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 17, 1891
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge, Jun 13, 1892
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
John Barrett
Appointment: Feb 14, 1894
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 15, 1894
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Apr 26, 1898
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Hamilton King
Appointment: Jan 14, 1898
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 26, 1898
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
Hamilton King
Appointment: Apr 27, 1903
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 3, 1903
Termination of Mission: Died at post Sep 2, 1912
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Nov 16, 1903. Commissioned to Siam.
 
Fred W. Carpenter
Appointment: Sep 12, 1912
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 22, 1913
Termination of Mission: Left post Nov 16, 1913
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Mar 1, 1913. Commissioned to Siam.
 
Alexander Sweek
Note: Not commissioned; nomination not confirmed by the Senate.
 
William H. Hornibrook
Appointment: Feb 12, 1915
Presentation of Credentials: May 31, 1915
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Oct 24, 1916
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
George Pratt Ingersoll
Appointment: Aug 8, 1917
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 24, 1917
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 23, 1918
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
George W. P. Hunt
Appointment: May 18, 1920
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 6, 1920
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 1, 1921
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Edward E. Brodie
Appointment: Oct 8, 1921
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 31, 1922
Termination of Mission: Left post May 2, 1925
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
William E. Russell
Appointment: Sep 28, 1925
Presentation of Credentials: [Jan 9, 1926]
Termination of Mission: Left post Jan 7, 1927
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 17, 1925. Commissioned to Siam. Officially received on Jan 9, 1926.
 
Harold Orville MacKenzie
Appointment: Mar 3, 1927
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 28, 1927
Termination of Mission: Left post Mar 29, 1930
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Arthur H. Geissler
Appointment: Dec 16, 1929
Note: Commissioned to Siam. Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post.
 
David E. Kaufman
Appointment: Jun 12, 1930
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 9, 1930
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 15, 1933
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
James Marion Baker
Appointment: Aug 30, 1933
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 9, 1933
Termination of Mission: Left post May 2, 1936
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 15, 1934. Commissioned to Siam.
 
Edwin L. Neville
Appointment: May 28, 1937
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 2, 1937
Termination of Mission: Left post May 1, 1940
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Hugh Gladney Grant
Appointment: Apr 3, 1940
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 20, 1940
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 30, 1941
 
Willys R. Peck
Appointment: Aug 19, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 16, 1941
Termination of Mission: Japanese forces occupied Bangkok, Dec 8, 1941
Note: Thailand declared war on the United States Jan 25, 1942. Peck, having been interned, left post Jun 29, 1942.
 
Charles W. Yost
Appointment: [see note below]
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 5, 1946
Termination of Mission: Superseded, Jul 4, 1946
Note: Not commissioned; letter of credence sent to Yost by telegram, Oct 16, 1945.
 
Edwin F. Stanton
Appointment: Apr 27, 1946
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 4, 1946
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
Edwin F. Stanton
Appointment: Apr 10, 1947
Presentation of Credentials: May 9, 1947
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 30, 1953
Note: Commissioned to Siam. The Legation in Bangkok had been raised to Embassy status Mar 18, 1947.
 
William J. Donovan
Appointment: Aug 3, 1953
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 4, 1953
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 21, 1954
 
John E. Peurifoy
Appointment: Sep 15, 1954
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 3, 1954
Termination of Mission: Died near Hua Hin, Aug 12, 1955
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 3, 1954.
 
Max Waldo Bishop
Appointment: Dec 3, 1955
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 9, 1956
Termination of Mission: Left post Jan 6, 1958
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 18, 1956.
 
U. Alexis Johnson
Appointment: Jan 30, 1958
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 14, 1958
Termination of Mission: Left post Apr 10, 1961
 
Kenneth Todd Young
Appointment: Mar 29, 1961
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 22, 1961
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 19, 1963
 
Graham A. Martin
Appointment: Sep 10, 1963
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 7, 1963
Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 9, 1967
 
Leonard Unger
Appointment: Aug 11, 1967
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 4, 1967
Termination of Mission: Left post Nov 19, 1973
 
William R. Kintner
Appointment: Sep 28, 1973
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 29, 1973
Termination of Mission: Left post Mar 15, 1975
 
Charles S. Whitehouse
Appointment: May 8, 1975
Presentation of Credentials: May 30, 1975
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 19, 1978
 
Morton I. Abramowitz
Appointment: Jun 27, 1978
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 9, 1978
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 31, 1981
 
John Gunther Dean
Appointment: Oct 1, 1981
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 26, 1981
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 6, 1985
 
William Andreas Brown
Appointment: Jun 6, 1985
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 5, 1985
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 5, 1988
 
Daniel Anthony O’Donohue
Appointment: Jul 11, 1988
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 13, 1988
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 10, 1991
 
David Floyd Lambertson
Appointment: Jul 22, 1991
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 24, 1991
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 25, 1995
 
William H. Itoh
Appointment: Dec 19, 1995
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 20, 1996
Termination of Mission: Left post Feb 1, 1999
 
Richard E. Hecklinger
Appointment: Dec 1, 1998
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 9, 1999
Termination of Mission: Left post Dec 21, 2001
 
Darryl N. Johnson
Appointment: Nov 26, 2001
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 29, 2002
Termination of Mission: Left post Dec 28, 2004
 
Ralph Leo Boyce
Appointment: Jul 2, 2004
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 9, 2005
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 21, 2007
 
Eric John
Appointment: May 21, 2007
Presentation of Credentials: January 8, 2008
Termination of Mission: 2010

 

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Thailand's Ambassador to the U.S.
ambassador-image Isarabhakdi, Vijavat

 

Vijavat Isarabhakdi presented his credentials as ambassador from Thailand to President Barack Obama on December 3, 2013. It is Isarabhakdi’s first ambassadorial position, but his second posting to the United States.

 

Isarabhakdi was born June 28, 1957. He attended Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, the oldest such institution in the country, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He went on to attend Tufts University in Boston, earning an M.A. in law and diplomacy and a Ph.D. in international relations in 1989 from that university’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1989. His dissertation was “The Man In Khaki—Debaser Or Developer?: The Thai Military In Politics, With Particular Reference To The 1976-1986 Period.”

 

Isarabhakdi joined Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as an attaché in the Americas division of the ministry’s department of political affairs. He later was made third secretary in that department, then second secretary in the office of East Asian Affairs and then in the office of secretary to the minister of foreign affairs.

 

In 1993, Isarabhakdi returned to the United States to serve as second secretary in the Thai embassy. At the same time, he was a Congressional fellow, working in the offices of Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) and Senator Hank Brown (R-Colorado). During his time in Washington, Isarabhakdi was promoted to first secretary at the embassy.

 

Isarabhakdi returned to Thailand in 1998 and to the department of East Asian Affairs as first secretary. He later moved to the office of the minister as first secretary and counsellor.  In 2001, Isarabhakdi began a series of increasingly responsible jobs in the secretariat of the prime minister. He was posted overseas again in 2006, this time as minister to the permanent mission of the United Nations in Geneva. He returned to Thailand in 2010 as director-general in the department of international organizations, then as deputy permanent secretary, office of the permanent secretary. During this period, he acted as a spokesman for the ministry and spent much of his time defending Thailand’s record on human trafficking and the status of refugees in the country.

 

His defensive responsibilities have increased since the military coup in Thailand on May 22, 2014.

 

Isarabhakdi is married with a daughter.

-Steve Straehley

 

To Learn More:

Official Biography

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Thailand's Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
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US-flag nation-flag U.S. Embassy web site

U.S. Ambassador to Thailand

Kenney, Kristie
ambassador-image

Kristie Kenney was appointed .U.S. ambassador to Thailand by President Barack Obama in July 2010, and was confirmed on September 29, 2010.

 
Kenney gained early exposure to U.S. government service as a tour guide for the US Capitol, an intern at the House of Representatives, and a Senate page. 
 
She earned a Masters degree in Latin American Studies from Tulane University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Clemson University.
 
Between college and her ambassadorships, Kenney held a variety of roles including Economic Counselor at the United States Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Argentina, and Consular officer at the US Embassy in Jamaica. She was also Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.
 
Prior to her assignment to Thailand, she served as ambassador to Ecuador and the Philippines. She was a popular US ambassador to the Philippines. Upon learning that she would not be ambassador anymore, Kenney updated her Facebook status saying “Heart broken to think of leaving the Philippines but know it is time for me to plan to return to be with my family. Calling on my FB friends to help me not be sad but to enjoy and savor my remaining months in this lovely country.”
 
Kenney is the first female US Ambassador to Thailand. She speaks Spanish and French. Her husband is William Brownfield, who has served as ambassador to Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela.
 

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Overview

Located in Southeast Asia, on the Malay Peninsula, Thailand was originally settled more than half a million years ago. Thai kingdoms ruled the land, establishing Theravada Buddhism as the country’s official religion and developing a code of laws, until the 19th century. Europeans, especially the Portuguese, had contact with Thailand as early as the 16th century. In 1826, Thailand signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United Kingdom, and in 1833, the US established diplomatic relations with Thailand (then known as Siam). Thailand was transformed from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy in 1932, as the result of a bloodless coup. Several more followed in the years leading up to World War II, when the Japanese occupied the country.

 
In the mid-1970s, civilian democratic political institutions gained greater authority, but the political situation remained unstable, as coup after coup kept any given leader from establishing control. On September 19, 2006, a group of top military officers overthrew the caretaker administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, repealed the constitution, and abolished both houses of Parliament. A new constitution was approved in 2007 by popular vote, and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was elected on December 15, 2008, as prime minister. His government, however, has been dogged by protests. A secessionist movement in the southern part of the country, comprised of Malay separatists, continues to threaten the government’s authority. Thailand continues to have good relations with the US and other Western nations. Yet, recent controversies have included the sale of shrimp produced by Thai slave labor, the expelling of American journalists for writing negative stories about the Thai royal family, and the compulsory licensing of major American drugs in Thailand by the military junta interim government.
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Basic Information

Lay of the Land: Thailand, located in Southeast Asia, has been likened to the head of an elephant. The “trunk” extends along southeastern Burma, down the Malay Peninsula, and stops at the northern border of Malaysia. The “head” is circled by Burma on the west, Laos on the northwest, Cambodia on the east, and the Gulf of Thailand (Pacific Ocean) on the south. Peninsular Thailand is covered with tropical rain forest, and the northern section is mountainous. Central Thailand, the Chao Phraya river basin, is a rich agricultural zone, while the northeastern region consists primarily of a plateau forming part of the Mekong River watershed.

 
Population: 65.5 million
 
Religions: Theravada Buddhist 83.1%, Sunni Muslim 9.1%, Ethnoreligious 2.5%, Christian 1.7%, Chinese Universalist 0.8%, Confucianist 0.4%, Baha’i 0.2%, Hindu 0.2%, Sikh 0.1%, non-religious 2.0%.
 
Ethnic Groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, Other 11%.
 
Languages: Thai (official) 31.1%, Northeastern Thai 23.1%, Northern Thai 9.2%, Southern Thai 7.7%, Pattani Malay 4.8%, Northern Khmer 1.7%, Min Nan Chinese 1.7%, Karen (Phrae Pwo, Northern Pwo, S’gaw) 0.6%, Hmong (Daw, Njua) 0.1%. There are 74 living languages in Thailand.
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History

Thailand has been inhabited for more than half a million years. Archeological evidence suggests that early civilizations relied on Bronze Age technology and the cultivation of wet rice. During the 6th and 7th centuries, migrations from southern China brought Tai people to the region now known as Thailand. The Tai mixed with the Malay, Mon and Khmer civilizations.

 
In the 13th century, the Thai nation was founded. Thai chieftains overthrew their Khmer overlords at Sukothai and established a Thai kingdom in 1238. This lasted until 1350, when a new Thai kingdom emerged on the Chao Praya River. Another kingdom, called Lanna, governed the northern part of the country.
 
King Rama Thibodi was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. He made two important contributions to Thai history: the establishment of Theravada Buddhism as the country’s official religion, and the development of a legal code called the Dharmashastra. These laws remained part of Thai society until the 19th century.
 
In the 16th century, the Portuguese established contact with Thailand, but until the 1800s, Thailand’s relations with neighboring kingdoms and China were of primary importance. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya remained in power for 400 years, until 1767, when invading Burmese armies burned the capital.
 
A new capital city was founded in 1782, across the Chao Praya River at the site of the present-day city of Bangkok. The first Chakri king was crowned Rama I, whose heirs became increasingly concerned with the threat of European colonialism after British victories in neighboring Burma in 1826.
 
In 1826, Thailand signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United Kingdom. In 1833, the US began diplomatic relations with Siam (Thailand’s former name until 1938). During the reigns of Rama IV (or King Mongkut, 1851-1868), and his son Rama V (King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910), Thailand began to deepen relations with the West. Many believed these positive relations helped Thailand avoid European colonization.
 
In 1932, a bloodless coup transformed the government of Thailand from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) accepted his position, but surrendered the throne to his 10-year old nephew. Subsequently, the country was ruled by a series of military governments, interspersed with brief periods of democracy. A series of mostly bloodless coups changed the Thailand leadership several times before World War II, when the Japanese occupied the country.
 
During the mid-1970s, civilian democratic political institutions slowly gained greater authority, culminating in 1988 when Chatichai Choonavan, leader of the Thai Nation Party, assumed office as the country’s first democratically elected prime minister in more than a decade. Three years later, yet another bloodless coup ended his term.
 
Shortly afterward, the military appointed Anand Panyarachun, a businessman and former diplomat, to head a largely civilian interim government and promised to hold elections in the near future. However, following inconclusive elections, former army commander Suchinda Kraprayoon was appointed prime minister. Thais reacted to the appointment by demanding an end to military influence in government. Demonstrations were violently suppressed by the military; in May 1992, soldiers killed at least 50 protesters.
 
Suchinda was forced to resign as a result of the violence. Anand Panyarachun was named interim prime minister. In the September 1992 elections, the political parties that had opposed the military won by a narrow majority. Chuan Leekpai, a leader of the Democratic Party, became prime minister. Chuan dissolved Parliament in May 1995. Party leader Banharn Silpa-Archa became prime minister, but held the office only little more than a year. Following elections held in November 1996, Chavalit Youngchaiyudh formed a coalition government and became prime minister.
 
The onset of the Asian financial crisis caused a loss of confidence in the Chavalit government and forced him to hand over power to Chuan Leekpai in November 1997. Chuan formed a coalition government based on the themes of prudent economic management and institution of political reforms mandated by Thailand’s 1997 constitution.
 
In January 2001, telecommunications multimillionaire Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party won a decisive victory on a populist platform of economic growth and development. Thaksin was re-elected in February 2005 elections, but soon after his second term began, allegations of corruption emerged. Peaceful anti-government mass demonstrations grew, and thousands marched in the streets to demand Thaksin’s resignation. Prime Minister Thaksin dissolved the Parliament in February 2006 and declared snap elections in April. The main opposition parties boycotted the polls, and the judiciary subsequently annulled the elections.
 
On September 19, 2006, a group of top military officers overthrew the caretaker administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, repealed the constitution, and abolished both houses of Parliament. Soon thereafter, the coup leaders promulgated an interim constitution and appointed Surayud Chulanont as interim prime minister. In a national referendum on August 19, 2007, a majority of Thai voters approved a new constitution that re-organized Thai elections. It was drafted by the military junta amid controversy, in part because it outlawed criticizing the draft. A referendum for the constitution was passed by 59.3% of voters.
 
People’s Power Party (PPP) leader Samak Sundaravej formed a coalition government and formally took office as prime minister on February 6, 2008.
 
Samak was forced out of office in September by a Constitutional Court ruling that he had violated the constitution’s conflict-of-interest provisions by hosting a televised cooking show. His successor, Somchai Wongsawat, PPP leader and brother-in-law of former Prime Minister Thaksin, also was forced out of office by the Constitutional Court when it dissolved the PPP and two other coalition parties on December 2 for election law violations. Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was elected on December 15, 2008.
 
The new government was dogged by protests throughout 2008 and 2009, some of which led to violence. In 2008, anti-government protesters occupied the Government House from late August until December, and briefly seized a television station in August, blockaded parliament in October, and forced the closure of Bangkok’s airports for several days in late November through early December.
 
Following violent clashes between pro-Thaksin and pro-Abhisit supporters, in April 2009, Abhisit declared a state of emergency and censored the media.
 
A secessionist movement has grown along Thailand’s southern border. Since 2004, violent ethnic Malay separatists have conducted an insurgency in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, and Songkhla against symbols and representatives of government authority. Citizens have sometimes been attacked, and hundreds have died.
 
April 2010 saw a new wave of violent protests lead by the Red Shirt oppositionists. The protests resulted in 87 civilian and military deaths and 1,378 injuries. The army tried to disperse the protestors, but was met with violence. In addition, government offices and government officials' homes were bombed and attacked.
 
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy that is run under a parliamentary democratic system. Democratically-elected offices include the House of Representatives, the Senate, and local administrations. Voting in Thailand is mandatory, and all elections are overseen by the Election Commission of Thailand, which has intervened in multiple Thai elections by mandating re-elections and disqualifying certain candidates. Re-elections will be held December 12 to replace MPs disqualified for holding shares in private companies.
 
A Country Study: Thailand (Library of Congress)
History of Thailand (Wikipedia)
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History of U.S. Relations with Thailand

On March 20, 1833, the United States and Thailand (then Siam) signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, the United States’ first treaty with a country in Asia.

 
Since World War II, the United States and Thailand have developed close relations. Several bilateral treaties and mutual participation in United Nations multilateral activities and agreements have deepened them, including the 1966 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations,  facilitating trade. Other important agreements address civil uses of atomic energy, sales of agricultural commodities, investment guarantees, and military and economic assistance.
 
The United States and Thailand are among the signatories of the 1954 Manila Pact of the former Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Article IV (1) of this treaty provided that, in the event of armed attack in the treaty area (which includes Thailand), each member would “act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.”
 
Despite the dissolution of the SEATO in 1977, the Manila pact remained in force and, together with the Thanat-Rusk Communique of 1962, constituted the basis of US security commitments to Thailand. Thailand continued to be a key security ally in Asia, along with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.
 
The US has extended financial assistance to Thailand in various fields, including rural development, health, family planning, education, and science and technology. The formal US Agency for International Development (USAID) program ended in 1995. However, there are a number of targeted assistance programs which continue in areas of mutually defined importance, including: health and HIV/AIDS programming; refugee assistance; and trafficking in persons.
 
 
Thailand has also received US military equipment, essential supplies, training, and assistance in the construction and improvement of facilities and installations since 1950. US security assistance has included military training programs carried out in the United States and elsewhere. A small US military advisory group in Thailand also oversaw the delivery of equipment to the Thai Armed Forces, and the training of Thai military personnel in its use and maintenance.
 
Thais began immigrating to the US after the 1960s. After the Vietnam War, many US soldiers brought Thai wives back from their tours of duty in Southeast Asia, and large Thai populations exist around military installations throughout the US. California (primarily Los Angeles) is home to the largest Thai community in the US, while New York (New York City) and Texas (Houston and Dallas) have the second and third biggest Thai populations.
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Current U.S. Relations with Thailand

 

Noted Thai-Americans:
Athletics
Eldrick “Tiger” Woods- the mother of the world’s most famous golfer was born in Thailand. Woods’ middle name, Tont, is Thai.
Johnny Damon- MLB left fielder. During his playing career he played with the Kansas City Royals, the Oakland Athletics, the Boston Red Sox, and the New York Yankees. His mother is Thai and his parents met when his father, an Army sergeant, was stationed in Thailand.
Kevin Kaesviharn- is an American football safety for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League.
Eric Koston- is a professional skateboarder who grew up in San Bernardino, California. His parents met when his father was stationed in Thailand with the US Air Force, and Eric was born in Thailand.
Stacy Prammanasudh- is a Thai-American golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. Her Thai father served as her caddy for the first five years of her professional career.
 
Politics
Tammy Duckworth- is the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. She is an Iraq war veteran and former U.S. helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs during combat. Her mother was an ethnic Chinese Thai citizen, and Duckworth was born in Bangkok.
 
Entertainment
Michael Chaturantabut- is an actor best known for his role as Chad Lee, the Blue Ranger in Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue.
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong- is a writer. She currently is the executive story editor and co-producer for Family Guy.
Lada Engchawadechasilp- is a Thai-American who represented Thailand in the 2001 Miss World pageant, the first non-Thai citizen to do so. A graduate of University of California, Los Angeles, she is currently a financial planning specialist with Smith Barney in San Francisco.
 
 
In December 2003, Thailand was designated a Major Non-NATO Ally by the Bush administration.
 
In June 2004, the United States and Thailand began negotiations on a free trade agreement that would reduce and eliminate barriers to trade and investment between the two countries. These negotiations were placed on hold following the dissolution of the Thai Parliament in February 2006, and the subsequent coup.
 
Funding for the International Military Education and Training and the Foreign Military Financing programs, along with selected other programs totaling $29 million, was suspended following the September 19, 2006, coup d’état in Thailand, but resumed after a democratically elected government took office in February 2008.
 
As part of their mutual defense cooperation over the last decade, Thailand and the United States have developed a vigorous joint military exercise program, which engages all the services of each nation and averages 40 joint exercises per year.
 
Thailand remains a trafficking route for narcotics from the Golden Triangle to both the domestic and international markets. The United States and Thailand work closely together with the United Nations on a broad range of programs to stop drug trafficking and other criminal activity, such as trafficking in persons. The US supports the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok, which provides counter-narcotics and anti-crime capacity-building programs to law enforcement and judicial officials from a number of regional countries.
 
The US Peace Corps in Thailand has approximately 100 volunteers, focused on primary education, with an integrated program involving teacher training, health education, and environmental education.
 
In the 2000 US census, 112,989 people identified themselves as being of Thai ancestry.
 
In 2006, 640,674 Americans visited Thailand. Except for a dip in 2003 (459,862 tourists), tourism has grown consistently since 2002, when 509,841 Americans went to Thailand.
 
In 2006, 69,236 Thais visited the US. The number of tourists has stayed around 65,000 in recent years.
Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations (by Emma Chanlett-Avery, Congressional Research Service) (pdf)
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Where Does the Money Flow

Thailand represents a major source of US imports from Asia. In 2009, the United States imported $19.1 billion in goods from the Southeast Asian country.

 
Top imported products in 2009 included fish and shellfish ($2 billion), telecommunications equipment, ($1.7 billion), semiconductors and related devices ($776 million), jewelry watches, and rings, ($766 million), feedstuff and food grains ($450.3 million), crude oil ($446.1 million), and natural rubber and similar gums ($294.1 million).
 
American exports to Thailand totaled $6.9 billion in 2009, signaling a drop from 2008’s total ($9.1 billion).
 
In 2009, top US exports to Thailand included semiconductors ($1.1 billion), computer accessories ($415.3 million), telecommunications material ($268.2 million), soybeans ($232.8 million), and plastic materials ($202.9 million),
 
Shrimp Sold in US Produced by Slave Labor
In April 2008, a three-year investigation by the The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)-affiliated Solidarity Center found several leading US retailers selling shrimp from plants in Thailand and Bangladesh where workers as young as eight years old were subjected to sweatshop conditions. Some of the United States’ most popular retailers, including Wal-Mart, Costco and Trader Joe’s, received the shrimp. Wal-Mart denied that its supply chain contained shrimp affected by sub-standard labor practices, but the report showed that many of the workers in the shrimp plants had been trafficked to the country to work for little or no money, often in unsafe conditions. Officials promised to take a closer look at these plants, in order to stop the flow of the tainted product.
 
The US State Department stated in a 2009 report that there is no way of seeing how many people in Thailand are subject to forced labor. American officials have praised Thailand for stepping up on crackdowns, but also acknowledge that forced labor is an especially big problem in the seafood industry.
Report Ties US Retailers to Sweatshop Shrimp (by Zain Verjee, Elise Labott, Justine Redman and Kocha Olarn, CNN)
 
The US Congress requested $16.8 million in aid for Thailand for 2010, primarily divided between development assistance ($6.15 million), international narcotics control and law enforcement ($1.7 million) and foreign military financing ($1.1 million). The largest overall aid category is peace and stabilization, which totals $7.5 million. 
 
The 2011 Congressional budget is expected to decrease US funding to Thailand  $3.3 million to a total of $13.5 million. Peace and security will receive $7.5 million (compared to $10.8 million in 2010), the largest portion of which will be going towards stabilization operations and security sector reform. Thai governing efforts will receive $4.5 million, and health investments will receive $1.5 million.
 
Thailand also receives funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) outside of the Foreign Operations budget.
 
Thailand Profile (BUYUSA.gov)
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Controversies

Thailand’s Military Junta Outlaws Foreign Drugs

In March 2007, the military junta interim government in Thailand stirred up controversy by proposing caps on foreign ownership of Thai companies and saying it would strip key drugs of their patent protection in order to give away generic versions. The drugs included Sustiva, Plavix and Aventis SA, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb. This is known as compulsory licensing, and is legal under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in medical emergencies. It is opposed by major drug companies, which have argued that the decision could slow the influx of foreign capital to the region. The pharmaceutical market in Thailand is currently dominated by generics. The largest domestic drug manufacturer is the Government Pharmaceutical Office (GPO). The government has a near monopoly over the public hospital sector in the country and public hospitals are legally forced to purchase 80% of their drugs from the GPO.
 
Thailand has most recently ignored the patents on some cancer drugs, highlighting the debate over keeping access to drugs while helping pharmaceutical firms maintain profits to promote future research. In December 2009, UNITAID announced its plans to establish a patent pool for AIDS medicine, which would allow for generic manufacturing and selling of drugs from different countries to be combined into a single treatment for poorer countries. Thailand is an especially big hot spot in the drug licensing debate because many tourists go there to get otherwise expensive medical procedures performed at low costs.
Thailand Business Climate Still Uncertain (by David Armstrong, San Francisco Chronicle)
 
American Journalists Expelled from Thailand
In February 2002, Thai officials ordered two journalists working for an American newspaper to leave the country because they wrote controversial articles about the Thai royal family. Shawn Crispin and Briton Rodney Tasker, reporters for the Wall Street Journal and its sister publication the Far Eastern Economic Review, were declared a threat to national security after they wrote a story about a tongue-lashing the country’s prime minister received from the hugely popular Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The article was immediately banned. Thailand’s National Police Chief said that the story was inaccurate and demanded a written, public apology. The US State Department raised concerns, and urged Thailand to uphold its reputation for press freedom. Other senior members of the Dow Jones, parent company of the Wall Street Journal, were blacklisted by the government.
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Human Rights

According to the U.S. State Department, conditions have remained relatively unchanged despite the political instability Thailand has faced the past two years. Security forces persisted with their abusive force and some were connected to extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings. In the southern part of Thailand violence by ethnic Malay separatist insurgents against symbols and representatives of the government, as well as against civilians, has resulted in hundreds of killings in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, and Songkhla.

 
According to the Ministry of Interior's Investigation and Legal Affairs Bureau, between January and November 2009, 733 persons died in prison, and 24 were in  police custody.
 
According to the State Department, there were no confirmed reports indicating any political motivation linked with the killings committed by the government or its agents. Nonetheless, security forces continued to demonstrate unwarranted and deadly force against criminal suspects. The murders were oftentimes linked to numerous extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings, including murders committed by security force personnel acting in a private capacity.
 
The Justice Ministry's investigation committee was able to gather evidence regarding the extrajudicial killings. It is reported at least 1,300 people died within the three-month "War on Drugs" campaign in 2003. In January 2008, a self-governing commission reviewed the ongoing killings and released a report insisting on further investigation of the murders without holding anyone accountable. The commission separated at the end of the interim government’s term, yet were secretive to the public about their findings and investigations as they were deemed very confidential.
 
According to the State Department, during a session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) conducted on June 3, 2009, the Asian Legal Resource Centre expressed apprehension over the government's lack of proceedings of the investigation of the extrajudicial killings. The government insisted that more than 50 law enforcement officers had been prosecuted for their wrongdoing, but due to conflict of communication, human rights and legal aid groups in Bangkok were unaware of these prosecutions.
 
According to investigations made by the Thailand Mine Action Center in 2008, two deaths were reported in the Sisaket Province of Thailand due to landmine accidents.
 
According to the 2009 State Department Human Rights Report, authorities assert that there were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. In addition, there were no confirmed reports that proved the disappearance of suspects after being questioned by security officials in the southern provinces of the Thailand. Reports did however reveal that there are continued investigations of the individuals who were believed to have been killed by obvious extrajudicial proceedings following their participation in army-sponsored reeducation centers.
 
Investigations specifically pinpoint any findings that suggest any torture and other cruel inhuman punishment occurred in the governmental facilities. According to the 2009 Human Rights Report, the constitution specifically prohibits inhuman and degrading practices, but spectators notice there is no law that specifically prohibits torture, thus many assert torture is not punishable as a crime under criminal law. Nevertheless, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and legal entities continued to report that members of the police and military occasionally tortured and beat suspects to obtain confessions—an act they feel should be recognized as cruel treatment. Newspaper articles reported on numerous cases in which citizens accused police and other security officials of using brutality. Further Investigations commenced following the newspaper reports. It is noted that as a result of the reports made by the mass media (especially Newspaper), accused police officers were suspended and pending the results of internal investigations. At year's end no military personnel had been charged or prosecuted.
 
 Prison and Detention Center Conditions
The following summarizes the State Department’s Human Rights Report on Thailand.
 
Prison conditions were poor due to overcrowding, insufficient sleeping accommodations, inadequate medical care, and widespread accessibility to communicable diseases. In 2009, there were 200,000 prisoners in facilities designed to hold 100,000. Oftentimes, seriously ill prisoners were transferred to provincial or state hospitals.
 
According to the 2009 Human Rights Report, prison authorities sometimes used solitary confinement at least once a month to punish male prisoners who consistently violated prison rules or policies. The Department of Corrections ensures that the average confinement was approximately seven days and is protected by law. Prison authorities also used heavy leg irons to control prisoners who were considered likely to escape or dangerous to other prisoners.
 
Approximately 14  percent of the 2009 prison population consisted of pretrial detainees, or suspects expecting a trial in the future (may be innocent). Nonetheless, pretrial detainees were not separated from the general prison population. Men, women, and children often were detained together in police station cells pending indictment. Separate facilities for juvenile offenders were available in all provinces, but in some locations juveniles were detained with adults due to unavailability.
 
Conditions in immigration detention centers (IDCs) remained poor as well. The Immigration Police Bureau, under supervision of the Office of the Prime Minister, administered IDCs, which were not subject to many of the regulations that governed the regular prison system. There were convincing reports in some IDCs that assert guards physically abusing detainees. Furthermore, overcrowding and a lack of basic medical care continued to be serious problems.
 
A total of 158 refugees were recognized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This included 80 children. Authorities permitted the beginning of a construction to ease overcrowding, which begun late August. However, at year’s end authorities continued to prohibit resettlement processing or to release of the refugees.
 
Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution specifically prohibits random arrests and imprisonment unless a warrant is granted; however, government forces overlooked this rule and occasionally arrested and detained persons arbitrarily. The Lawyer’s Council of Thailand received 115 complaints in 2009 from residents complaining about security force operations and improper searches and arrests.
 
Arrest and Detention
The law requires police to obtain a warrant from a judge before making an arrest. Issuing arrest warrants has been subject to misuse by police officers who have reportedly provided false evidence to courts to obtain arrest warrants. According to the State Department report, legal aid organizations noted that in 2007 the Yala Provincial Court permitted 390 of 392 requests for arrest warrants under the emergency decree and granted all requests for search warrants.
 
The law requires police to submit criminal cases to prosecutors for the filing of court charges within 48 hours of arrest, and allowing for extensions of up to three days. Prosecutors may file for court permission to extend detentions for additional periods to further conduct investigations. The report stated that lawyers reported that police rarely brought cases to court within the 48-hour period.
 
Amnesty
According to the 2009 report at year's end, authorities had released approximately 31,000 prisoners pardoned by the king as part of a royal amnesty marking his 80th birthday in December 2007.
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Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Thai constitution calls for an independent judiciary. Yet, it has been subject to corruption and outside influences. According to human rights groups, “the lack of progress in several high-profile cases involving alleged abuse by the police and military diminished the public's trust in the justice system and discouraged some victims of human rights abuses (or their families) from seeking justice”.
 
Thai justice system consists of three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court of Justice compose the civilian judicial system. In addition there is a Constitutional Court, which interprets the constitution, and the Supreme Administrative Court, which determines cases involving government officials or state agencies.
 
 Trial Procedures
Trial procedure does not include trial by jury. A single judge determines trials for misdemeanors. Two or more judges are required during the trial for more serious cases. The constitution calls for a prompt trial, but a large amount of cases have accumulated remained in the court system for longer periods of time. Most trials are public, but the court may order a closed trial. The court may chose to close the trial in particular cases that may involve national security, the royal family, children, or sexual abuse.
 
Thai law provides for the presumption of innocence. In criminal courts, defendants have a broad range of legal rights, which includes access to a lawyer of their choosing.
 
 Political Prisoners and Detainees
According to the State Department, there were no reports of political prisoners or detainees.
 
Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflict
In the southern part of Thailand violence by ethnic Malay separatist insurgents against symbols and representatives of the government, as well as against civilians, has resulted in hundreds of killings in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, and Songkhla. Death and injuries were carried out daily bombings and attacks by insurgents.
 
According to the State Department, the emergency decree in effect for Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and three districts of Songkhla gives military, police, and civilian authorities significant powers to restrict certain basic rights and delegates certain internal security powers to the armed forces. Security forces are further protected with immunity from prosecution by the decree.
 
 Killings
Security forces continued to demonstrate unwarranted and deadly force against criminal suspects. The murders were often times linked to numerous extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings, including murders committed by security force personnel acting in a private capacity.
 
Government involvements with separatists were accused of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture of individuals.
 
 Child Soldiers
According to the State Department and Human rights organizations, there were reports that separatist groups recruited teenagers under the age of 18 to carry out attacks. A human rights organization asserted that separatists used private Islamic schools to brainwash ethnic Muslim Malay children with a separatist goals.
 
 Internet Freedom
There were some reports of government monitoring of Internet chat rooms and restrictions on access to the Internet. However, individuals and groups could engage in peaceful expression via Internet.
 
 Protection of Refugees
According to the State report, Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol, which not provide for granting asylum or refugee status. Nevertheless, they continue to host a significant number of refugees.
 
Women
Rape is illegal. The criminal code permits authorities to prosecute spousal rape. According to the Ministry of Public Health, between October 2008  and December,2009 the police estimated that 10,206 women and children were sexually abused, including 1,938 women more than 18 years old, and 8,268 children.
 
Trafficking in Persons
A new antitrafficking law came into force on June 5, 2008, and the government has continued trying to fully implement the law. The comprehensive law extends the definition to include trafficking with the intent of labor exploitation and the trafficking of males. Previously the laws were only defined by sexual exploitation and allowed only women and children to be classified as victims. 
 
According to the State Department, from July 2005 to June 2007 police reported 144 trafficking-in-persons cases were filed in the judicial system. The 12-month period preceding July police reported arrests of 5,012 offenders. The arrests included 159 transnational crimes in human trafficking, 4,780 transnational crimes in labor fraud, 19 transnational crimes in sexual exploitation, and 54 other crimes.
 
The 1951 antislavery law resulted in a conviction for the first time in mid-2006 when the employer of an abused domestic servant was found guilty of enslavement.
 
Indigenous People
Members of hill tribes who are not citizens continue to face restrictions on their migration, land ownership, access to credit from banks, and lack of protection by labor laws, including minimum wage requirements. They were also excluded from state welfare services like universal health care.
 
 Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination
Intensive educational outreach efforts have reduced the stigma within some communities, but persons with HIV/AIDS continue to face the psychological stigma associated with the disease. According to the State Department, there have been reports of employers refusing to hire persons who were HIV-positive after an employer-mandated blood screening. The Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS reported that an estimated 7,000 businesses pledged not to require HIV/AIDS tests for employees and promised to hold awareness campaigns.
 
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Debate
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Past Ambassadors

John A. Halderman
Appointment: Jul 13, 1882
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 23, 1882
Termination of Mission: Left post Apr 1, 1885
Note: Commissioned to Siam.

 
Jacob T. Child
Appointment: Mar 9, 1886
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 5, 1886
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Jan 17, 1891
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Alexander C. Moore
Appointment: Jul 9, 1890
Note: Declined appointment.
 
Sempronius H. Boyd
Appointment: Oct 1, 1890
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 17, 1891
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge, Jun 13, 1892
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
John Barrett
Appointment: Feb 14, 1894
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 15, 1894
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Apr 26, 1898
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Hamilton King
Appointment: Jan 14, 1898
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 26, 1898
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
Hamilton King
Appointment: Apr 27, 1903
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 3, 1903
Termination of Mission: Died at post Sep 2, 1912
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Nov 16, 1903. Commissioned to Siam.
 
Fred W. Carpenter
Appointment: Sep 12, 1912
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 22, 1913
Termination of Mission: Left post Nov 16, 1913
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Mar 1, 1913. Commissioned to Siam.
 
Alexander Sweek
Note: Not commissioned; nomination not confirmed by the Senate.
 
William H. Hornibrook
Appointment: Feb 12, 1915
Presentation of Credentials: May 31, 1915
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Oct 24, 1916
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
George Pratt Ingersoll
Appointment: Aug 8, 1917
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 24, 1917
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 23, 1918
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
George W. P. Hunt
Appointment: May 18, 1920
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 6, 1920
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 1, 1921
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Edward E. Brodie
Appointment: Oct 8, 1921
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 31, 1922
Termination of Mission: Left post May 2, 1925
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
William E. Russell
Appointment: Sep 28, 1925
Presentation of Credentials: [Jan 9, 1926]
Termination of Mission: Left post Jan 7, 1927
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 17, 1925. Commissioned to Siam. Officially received on Jan 9, 1926.
 
Harold Orville MacKenzie
Appointment: Mar 3, 1927
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 28, 1927
Termination of Mission: Left post Mar 29, 1930
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Arthur H. Geissler
Appointment: Dec 16, 1929
Note: Commissioned to Siam. Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post.
 
David E. Kaufman
Appointment: Jun 12, 1930
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 9, 1930
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 15, 1933
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
James Marion Baker
Appointment: Aug 30, 1933
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 9, 1933
Termination of Mission: Left post May 2, 1936
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 15, 1934. Commissioned to Siam.
 
Edwin L. Neville
Appointment: May 28, 1937
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 2, 1937
Termination of Mission: Left post May 1, 1940
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
 
Hugh Gladney Grant
Appointment: Apr 3, 1940
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 20, 1940
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 30, 1941
 
Willys R. Peck
Appointment: Aug 19, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 16, 1941
Termination of Mission: Japanese forces occupied Bangkok, Dec 8, 1941
Note: Thailand declared war on the United States Jan 25, 1942. Peck, having been interned, left post Jun 29, 1942.
 
Charles W. Yost
Appointment: [see note below]
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 5, 1946
Termination of Mission: Superseded, Jul 4, 1946
Note: Not commissioned; letter of credence sent to Yost by telegram, Oct 16, 1945.
 
Edwin F. Stanton
Appointment: Apr 27, 1946
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 4, 1946
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Note: Commissioned to Siam.
Edwin F. Stanton
Appointment: Apr 10, 1947
Presentation of Credentials: May 9, 1947
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 30, 1953
Note: Commissioned to Siam. The Legation in Bangkok had been raised to Embassy status Mar 18, 1947.
 
William J. Donovan
Appointment: Aug 3, 1953
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 4, 1953
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 21, 1954
 
John E. Peurifoy
Appointment: Sep 15, 1954
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 3, 1954
Termination of Mission: Died near Hua Hin, Aug 12, 1955
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 3, 1954.
 
Max Waldo Bishop
Appointment: Dec 3, 1955
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 9, 1956
Termination of Mission: Left post Jan 6, 1958
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 18, 1956.
 
U. Alexis Johnson
Appointment: Jan 30, 1958
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 14, 1958
Termination of Mission: Left post Apr 10, 1961
 
Kenneth Todd Young
Appointment: Mar 29, 1961
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 22, 1961
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 19, 1963
 
Graham A. Martin
Appointment: Sep 10, 1963
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 7, 1963
Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 9, 1967
 
Leonard Unger
Appointment: Aug 11, 1967
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 4, 1967
Termination of Mission: Left post Nov 19, 1973
 
William R. Kintner
Appointment: Sep 28, 1973
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 29, 1973
Termination of Mission: Left post Mar 15, 1975
 
Charles S. Whitehouse
Appointment: May 8, 1975
Presentation of Credentials: May 30, 1975
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 19, 1978
 
Morton I. Abramowitz
Appointment: Jun 27, 1978
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 9, 1978
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 31, 1981
 
John Gunther Dean
Appointment: Oct 1, 1981
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 26, 1981
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 6, 1985
 
William Andreas Brown
Appointment: Jun 6, 1985
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 5, 1985
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 5, 1988
 
Daniel Anthony O’Donohue
Appointment: Jul 11, 1988
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 13, 1988
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 10, 1991
 
David Floyd Lambertson
Appointment: Jul 22, 1991
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 24, 1991
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 25, 1995
 
William H. Itoh
Appointment: Dec 19, 1995
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 20, 1996
Termination of Mission: Left post Feb 1, 1999
 
Richard E. Hecklinger
Appointment: Dec 1, 1998
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 9, 1999
Termination of Mission: Left post Dec 21, 2001
 
Darryl N. Johnson
Appointment: Nov 26, 2001
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 29, 2002
Termination of Mission: Left post Dec 28, 2004
 
Ralph Leo Boyce
Appointment: Jul 2, 2004
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 9, 2005
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 21, 2007
 
Eric John
Appointment: May 21, 2007
Presentation of Credentials: January 8, 2008
Termination of Mission: 2010

 

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Thailand's Ambassador to the U.S.
ambassador-image Isarabhakdi, Vijavat

 

Vijavat Isarabhakdi presented his credentials as ambassador from Thailand to President Barack Obama on December 3, 2013. It is Isarabhakdi’s first ambassadorial position, but his second posting to the United States.

 

Isarabhakdi was born June 28, 1957. He attended Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, the oldest such institution in the country, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He went on to attend Tufts University in Boston, earning an M.A. in law and diplomacy and a Ph.D. in international relations in 1989 from that university’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1989. His dissertation was “The Man In Khaki—Debaser Or Developer?: The Thai Military In Politics, With Particular Reference To The 1976-1986 Period.”

 

Isarabhakdi joined Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as an attaché in the Americas division of the ministry’s department of political affairs. He later was made third secretary in that department, then second secretary in the office of East Asian Affairs and then in the office of secretary to the minister of foreign affairs.

 

In 1993, Isarabhakdi returned to the United States to serve as second secretary in the Thai embassy. At the same time, he was a Congressional fellow, working in the offices of Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) and Senator Hank Brown (R-Colorado). During his time in Washington, Isarabhakdi was promoted to first secretary at the embassy.

 

Isarabhakdi returned to Thailand in 1998 and to the department of East Asian Affairs as first secretary. He later moved to the office of the minister as first secretary and counsellor.  In 2001, Isarabhakdi began a series of increasingly responsible jobs in the secretariat of the prime minister. He was posted overseas again in 2006, this time as minister to the permanent mission of the United Nations in Geneva. He returned to Thailand in 2010 as director-general in the department of international organizations, then as deputy permanent secretary, office of the permanent secretary. During this period, he acted as a spokesman for the ministry and spent much of his time defending Thailand’s record on human trafficking and the status of refugees in the country.

 

His defensive responsibilities have increased since the military coup in Thailand on May 22, 2014.

 

Isarabhakdi is married with a daughter.

-Steve Straehley

 

To Learn More:

Official Biography

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Thailand's Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
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US-flag nation-flag U.S. Embassy web site

U.S. Ambassador to Thailand

Kenney, Kristie
ambassador-image

Kristie Kenney was appointed .U.S. ambassador to Thailand by President Barack Obama in July 2010, and was confirmed on September 29, 2010.

 
Kenney gained early exposure to U.S. government service as a tour guide for the US Capitol, an intern at the House of Representatives, and a Senate page. 
 
She earned a Masters degree in Latin American Studies from Tulane University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Clemson University.
 
Between college and her ambassadorships, Kenney held a variety of roles including Economic Counselor at the United States Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Argentina, and Consular officer at the US Embassy in Jamaica. She was also Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.
 
Prior to her assignment to Thailand, she served as ambassador to Ecuador and the Philippines. She was a popular US ambassador to the Philippines. Upon learning that she would not be ambassador anymore, Kenney updated her Facebook status saying “Heart broken to think of leaving the Philippines but know it is time for me to plan to return to be with my family. Calling on my FB friends to help me not be sad but to enjoy and savor my remaining months in this lovely country.”
 
Kenney is the first female US Ambassador to Thailand. She speaks Spanish and French. Her husband is William Brownfield, who has served as ambassador to Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela.
 

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