THAILAND'S NEXT STEPS ON PROLIFERATION SECURITY

UNCLAS BANGKOK 002067 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/BCLTV, NP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MNUC PARM TH PSI SUBJECT: THAILAND'S NEXT STEPS ON PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE (PSI) REF: A. STATE 39747 ¶B. BANGKOK 1772 ¶C. BANGKOK 1886 ¶D. STATE 48997 ¶E. O/I E-MAIL MAR 21 FROM THAI DESK ¶1. (SBU) On March 22, Polcouns contacted Busaya Mathelin, Deputy Director General (DDG),International Organizations (IO) Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about the Thai decision to recall two designated Thai participants before they joined the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Operational Experts Group (OEG) meeting in Omaha. ¶2. (SBU) DDG Busaya said that U.S. positions conveyed in two demarches (reftels) left Thailand no choice in the end other than to decline participation. She reviewed developments. First, the U.S. invited Thailand to participate. Then the U.S. asked Thailand to endorse the PSI Statement of Principles (SOP) before Omaha as a condition for participating. Finally the U.S. had asked the Thai government for a statement to the OEG that the RTG had made a decision to pursue formal endorsement but was still working through the modalities, or to allow a U.S. statement to be made on the RTG's behalf. After careful consideration of these various proposals, she said, the MFA had concluded that the U.S. was requiring declarations that were "two or three steps ahead" of Thailand's current position given that internal Thai coordination among 19 different agencies on PSI is not finished. ¶3. (SBU) Busara said that, as had been repeatedly conveyed to the U.S. side, MFA officials at senior levels and many others in different agencies view the PSI SOP with favor. However, several Thai agencies remain unconvinced that endorsement of the SOP would not oblige Thailand to specific actions, and were withholding their approval. She said that MFA remains committed to convincing those holdouts that all actions under PSI would be voluntary and within domestic and international law, and that the principles should be endorsed. Busara said that the MFA will hold an internal meeting on March 24 to discuss next steps on how to reach full agreement within the RTG on endorsement of the SOP. MFA will probably convene the next Thai interagency meeting to try to achieve this consensus next week. BOYCE