FM-NOMINEE UNPLUGGED: BLUNT-TALKING KASIT PIROMYA,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 003707

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR TH
SUBJECT: FM-NOMINEE UNPLUGGED: BLUNT-TALKING KASIT PIROMYA,
THAILAND'S NEXT FOREIGN MINISTER

Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reason 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary and Comment: In private discussions and public
fora in recent days, Thailand's Foreign Minister designate
Kasit Piromya has displayed both a grasp of foreign policy
challenges facing Thailand and the outspoken views in defense
of the People's Alliance Democracy (PAD) that show the
promise and peril he brings to the foreign policy portfolio
for the Abhisit administration. A career diplomat and former
Ambassador to the U.S., Kasit knows that he inherits a
demoralized, essentially inert Ministry that needs
reinvigorated leadership. Drawing on the Democrat Party
foreign policy philosophy that Thailand is a democratic
country and its foreign policy should reflect that, Kasit
suggests he will attempt to boost Thailand's nearly invisible
presence at key UN missions and induce changes in Thai policy
towards Burma as well as towards its restive south. However,
Kasit's unapologetic and at times emotional defense of PAD
actions, including the late November airport seizures, is
already bringing criticism from Thais and foreigners alike,
and could prove a continuing sore for the Democrat Party,
which never distanced itself from the most extreme tactics
employed by the PAD in their efforts against
Thaksin-affiliated governments. Kasit won the foreign
ministry portfolio in part because Democrat leaders saw
fellow party contender Kraisak Choonhavan as too much of a
loose cannon; they may not have appreciated how close Kraisak
and Kasit are in style, if not substance. End Summary and
Comment.

Taking over a demoralized ministry
--------------


2. (C) The Thai foreign service once prided itself in having
senior diplomats willing to speak their minds and challenge
Thai foreign policy, at least within the halls of the foreign
ministry, blunt talkers like Kasit Piromya. That tradition
has largely disappeared in the past eight years, particularly
under the stifling leadership of former PM Thaksin
Shinawatra's overbearing first Foreign Minister, Surakiart
Sathirathai, who prized loyalty and willingness to carry out
directions from above and stifled dissenting voices with
downgraded assignments. Nearly all of the straight talkers
are gone, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 60.


3. (C) Kasit told us in a private conversation December 8
that he knew he would be taking over a demoralized ministry
long lacking in leadership, and that restoring previous
standards would be an uphill battle. One of his first goals,
apart from ensuring Thailand moved quickly to host
rescheduled ASEAN summits successfully, would be to restore
Thailand's international voice. He scornfully assessed what
he called the "invisible" Thai diplomatic presence at UN
organizations in Geneva and New York, including the lack of
speeches or involvement on important issues. He suggested he
would attempt to make an early trip to both locales and
expressed willingness to re-examine the recent Thai
tradition, imposed by Surakiart in 2001, of abstaining on all
country-specific human rights resolutions and supporting no
action motions.


4. (C) Another early priority would be to attempt to restore
Thailand's image after the months of recent turmoil
culminating in the airport takeover. Reflecting advice heard
from APCO Associates, which has pitched an image-rehab
project/contract to the incoming Democrat-led coalition,
Kasit suggested the MFA may employ some special envoys, Thais
with some political stature, rather than the MFA's current
thin bench, to reach out to various parts of the world and
manage key relationships/sets of issues, including the U.S.

Thoughts on US-Thai bilateral relations
--------------


5. (C) Kasit left Washington in 2005. Acknowledging the
overall drift in recent Thai diplomatic efforts, he told us
December 8 that he wanted to promote a restored partnership
in which the two sides discussed issues of common interest
with both sides showing initiative, rather than Thailand
passively waiting and merely reacting to whatever the US

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raised. He said he would review the two Bush-Thaksin joint
statements (2003 and 2005, the latter of which he helped
draft) to see what made sense to retain as part of the
framework for promoting the relationship, and what could be
added to carry the relationship forward.


6. (C) Kasit confirmed that Thai UN PermRep Don Pramudwinai,
long presumed to be the Ambassadorial nominee to Washington,
would retain that standing under the incoming administration.
In recognition of the damage caused by the long gap between
Ambassadors, Kasit grumbled that Don would have to "be very
active in outreach" in Washington once the long-awaited
Ambassadorial reshuffle occurs. Acknowledging FTA
discussions would not be going anywhere, Kasit expressed
interest in working on individual economic policy issues of
concern, like IPR enforcement.

Foreign policy should reflect Thailand is a democracy
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) Both privately and publicly at a December 19 forum
held at Chulalongkorn University, Kasit stressed the Democrat
Party mantra that Thailand's foreign policy should reflect
that Thailand is a democratic society. Kasit asserted that
policy on issues like Burma, Burmese refugees, and southern
unrest should be politically led, not determined by
bureaucratic actors and processes driven out of the Ministry
of Interior or the National Security Council. Privately,
Kasit vowed to take a close look at refugee policy, and how
Thailand could more effectively address emerging
cross-border, transnational issues like migration with
international partners.


8. (U) On ASEAN, Kasit hailed the ASEAN Charter coming into
force December 15, but stressed that all 10 members must now
open up governance to more scrutiny and transparency for
civil society. As ASEAN Chair for 2009, he vowed Thailand
would push other members to meet the promise inherent in the
Charter, as well as the establishment of an ASEAN human
rights body. Thailand would work closely with Indonesia,
given its dramatic democratic changes in recent years and its
traditional leading role in ASEAN.


9. (SBU) On Burma--and using the word "Burma," not
"Myanmar"--Kasit vowed privately and publicly that "we would
not have the same style of policy as under Thaksin and Samak.
Personal business interests of leading political figures and
family members will have no place in our foreign policy."
Thailand would not jeopardize Burmese communities by the dam
and electricity line projects proposed by previous
governments, he vowed, and Thailand would not be blackmailed
by Burma simply because one pipeline (Yadana gas) provided
five percent of Thailand's energy needs. While Thai
officials would speak to the Burmese junta in a civilized
manner, ASEAN needed to move forward, he stated.


10. (SBU) On the South, Kasit asserted that Bangkok needed to
be more focused on fostering reconciliation via a political
approach that did not rely on "security forces, tanks, and
killing." If the UK had a Minister for Northern Ireland and
Japan a Minister for Okinawan issues, perhaps it was time for
Thailand to have a Minister for the South, he stated
publicly; privately, he indicated former Democrat PM and
party elder Chuan Leekpai was likely to assume this
responsibility. Kasit said that the Democrats would reach
out to both the Indonesians and Malaysians to help facilitate
discussions and a process that could lead to reconciliation.

PAD roots die hard - major liability?
--------------


11. (C) Kasit's major liability, however, is his affiliation
with the PAD movement which occupied Government House on
August 26 and took over Bangkok's airports November 25 for
eight days. While not a PAD leader, Kasit was a frequent
speaker on stage and in the international media explaining
and defending PAD actions. A Democrat party staffer told us
December 19 that Chuan took Kasit into the party "freezer," a
room in which wayward officials are lectured, on December 18
to caution him to tone down his rhetoric in advance of

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becoming the FM nominee. Kasit essentially ignored the
caution at the Chula forum, emotionally and at times
defiantly responding to skeptical questioning of his defense
of PAD actions by Thai and international media
representatives.


12. (SBU) Asked to defend his statements in support of the
PAD airport takeover by the BBC correspondent, Kasit
acknowledged Thailand might never be a Scandanavian-style
"perfect" democracy, but asserted unapologetically that "my
conscience is clear; the actions represented the rise of
civil society, and the furthering of the democratic process."
After 70 years of the military and big business calling the
shots and determining who held power in Thailand, civil
society had found its voice. What was threatening when
housewives and NGO activists found their voice, demanded that
politics be clean and accountable, and influenced the
process, he asked rhetorically. The recent change of
government came "peacefully, within parliament, by the vote
of elected representatives of the people, not by tanks in the
streets." He challenged European journalists to compare the
level of violence in Bangkok with that in Greece, "the cradle
of western civilization and an EU member."


13. (C) Note: After the seminar concluded, the organizer,
Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, called us to confirm whether
Kasit's nomination was indeed set; he feared Kasit's
outbursts at the seminar might be enough to sink his
candidacy, and that the seminar organizers might be blamed.
Later in the afternoon, the French embassy contacted us
suggesting that the diplomatic community should consider
boycotting the first public appearance Kasit might make if he
were confirmed as Foreign Minister, to protest his defense of
PAD actions. Similar reasoning led many embassies not to
attend the King's Birthday Parade December 2. We believe
such gestures are unwise, and we will not join any such
efforts. But such talk, combined with Kasit's blunt
personality, are indications that his expected tenure at the
MFA could well be a stormy one.
JOHN