IMET IN THAILAND -- KEY TOOL FOR ENGAGEMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 007599

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP
OSD FOR OSD/ISA (JPOWERS) AND DSCA
PACOM FOR FPA HUSO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MARR MASS TH IMET
SUBJECT: IMET IN THAILAND -- KEY TOOL FOR ENGAGEMENT


1. The International Military Education and Training Program
(IMET) has been a vital tool for almost 30 years to improve
the Thai military's ability to develop core skills and
competence. In addition to providing world-class training
through a wide range of courses, IMET has helped us create a
cadre of Thai leaders who understand U.S. strategic
objectives and who -- as was illustrated in the quick
agreement by Thai leaders to permit the United States to use
Utapao Royal Thai Naval Air Base as a hub for tsunami relief
activities throughout the region -- can be counted on to help
us further our own national interests. Post offers this
overview of IMET in Thailand for addressees to draw upon when
they need to brief decision makers about the depth and
importance of IMET in Thailand.

THE NUMBERS


2. The world-wide budget for IMET in FY06 is more than 90
million dollars. In 2005, Thailand received 2.5 million IMET
dollars, making it the fourth largest recipient in the world
after Turkey, Jordan and the Philippines. Congress approved
2.4 million dollars for Thailand in FY06. In FY05, IMET
Programs worldwide trained more than 11,000 students
including 460 Thai. Globally, IMET has increased worldwide
from 49.96 million dollars in FY99 to 89.01 million in FY05.
In FY 2005, we trained 460 Thai soldiers, sailors and airmen
through IMET. Since FY98, we have trained 1,762 Thai
personnel.

THE COURSES GIVE THAI AN UNDERSTANDING OF OUR OBJECTIVES


3. Technical courses have given Thai IMET students
familiarity with U.S. systems, doctrine and methodology that
promote interoperability and that have resulted in Thailand
training on and later purchasing U.S. systems. IMET
Professional Military Education (PME) programs have sent Thai
officers to all of our top military institutions including
the Air and Army War Colleges, the Navy Command College and
the US Army and USMC Command and General Staff Colleges.

THAI PME CANDIDATES ARE CAREFULLY CHOSEN


4. For years now, Thai students selected for PME Programs,
especially at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
(CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, have been top graduates of the
Thai Armed Forces General Staff College. Upon their return
to Thailand, students must teach at the Thai Staff College
for two years and are then recruited by senior officers as
staff aides or placed into other positions of authority
because they are deemed to have the most current
understanding of U.S. military doctrine. Since aides to
senior staff officers frequently become senior staff
themselves later in their careers, this "Leavenworth
pipeline" has been invaluable in ensuring we have access at
the highest level of the Thai military. Thai CGSC graduates
have a strong alumni association that also serves as a way
for us to maintain links with these officers.

IMET GRADUATES ARE IN POSITIONS OF INFLUENCE


5. Scores of IMET graduates staff key positions throughout
the Thai military. Key examples at MOD include GEN Apichart
Penkitti, Director of Policy and Plans and his deputy, LTG
Naraset Israngkura Na Ayudhya; the JAG, GEN Attaporn
Charoenpanich; and GEN Sirichai Thunyasiri, the Permanent
Secretary. At Royal Thai Supreme Command, Chief of the Joint

SIPDIS
Staff GEN Lertrat Ratanavanich, Deputy Supreme Commander GEN
Boonsrang Niumpradit, former J7 Director MG Nopparat
Yodvimol, J4 VADM Suchart Hongprasong, J5 Director LTG
Pitsanu Urailert and, J6 Director LTG Anusorn Teptada are all
IMET graduates. The CINC of the Royal Thai Army, GEN Sonthi
Boonyaratglinm, as well as his chief of staff are IMET
veterans. Royal Thai Air Force CINC Air Chief Marshal Chalit
Pukbhasuk and his Air Combat Commander are alumni as are
Royal Thai Navy CINC ADM Sampop Amrapala and his Chief of
Staff.


6. RTSC Chief of Staff General Lertrat, a Leavenworth Honor
Graduate, was the Thai military officer responsible for
overseeing tsunami operations in Phuket. RTSC Deputy GEN
Boonsrang was a PKO force commander in East Timor and is a
graduate of West Point. LTG Niphat Thonglek, the Commander
of Thai forces presently in Aceh as part of an EU-led peace
mission, is a graduate of CGSC. Even outside the military,
IMET graduates retain influence in Thailand. Privy
Councillor GEN (ret.) Surayud Chulanont, a former Army CINC
and Supreme Commander, is one of the highest regarded elder
statesmen of the country. He attended CGSC and is a member
of the Leavenworth Hall of Fame. The current National
Security Advisor, LTG Winai Phattiyakul, was a force
commander in East Timor and a CGSC alumnus. Former Prime
Minister and Army commander Chavalit Yongchaiyut, a CGSC
graduate, has been called back into government service as a
key advisor on poverty. CGSC alumnus and former Prime
Minister Prem Tinsulanonda is presently President of the
Privy Council and one of the most influential men in
Thailand.

PROMOTING OUR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES


7. IMET graduates have been instrumental in helping us to
win Thai support for key U.S. objectives. Recently, Thailand
endorsed the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI),a
major G-8 effort to train 15,000 Asian peace keepers by 2010.
IMET graduates helped us to convince civilian leaders to
make Thailand a regional training center for peace keepers.
We are convinced that IMET alumni officers' familiarity with
U.S. doctrine, methodology and structure has been pivotal in
winning Thai support to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom. Thai military leaders' growing professionalization
obtained through IMET led to commitments to make PKO
deployments to East Timor, Cambodia, Aceh and elsewhere.


8. The massive and successful U.S. military response to the
2004 tsunami has created goodwill that we can build upon for
years in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and throughout the
region. That response was possible, in large part, due to
the Thai decision to quickly agree to permit us to use their
country as a hub for regional relief. IMET alumni in
Thailand were among the key decision makers and advisors who
made that decision possible. Thus IMET, coupled with our
comprehensive and large-scale exercise program, were major
factors in making Operation Unified Assistance a success.

PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS


9. IMET is a flexible tool that has allowed us to promote
human rights within the Thai military. For example, after
the October 25, 2004 Tak Bai incident (during which poorly
trained Thai military and civilian security forces forced
nearly 1,300 Thai Muslim protesters into trucks to be
transported to a military base nearly three hours away,
resulting in the deaths of 78 protesters en route),
JUSMAGTHAI quickly set up a comprehensive series of human
rights courses administered by the Defense Institute of
International Legal Studies (DIILS) for Thai officers and
soldiers rotating to southern Thailand -- thereby helping us
to prevent future tragedies.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?


10. The Department's commitment to expanding IMET worldwide
over the past few years has had a major positive impact on
our ability to further U.S. strategic interests in Thailand
and the region. IMET, much like the Fulbright Program, is a
long-term investment with quantifiable results. Without
question, IMET has contributed to making Thailand a more
effective and reliable coalition partner that has join us in
making the transformation form the cold war era to the new
security challenges of the present -- and future.
BOYCE