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