NEW CONSULATE OPENS IN NORTHERN THAILAND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000166 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EAP/PD, EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO SCUL PREL BEXP OEXC SUBJECT: NEW CONSULATE OPENS IN NORTHERN THAILAND CHIANG MAI 00000166 001.2 OF 002 -------------- Summary and Comment -------------- ¶1. Consul General and five staff engaged in "soft diplomacy" while operating as "ConGen Chiang Rai" during a two-day road show to the city October 29-30. Based at the brand new Le Meridien Hotel - which is managed by the U.S. firm Starwood - CG hosted a reception and U.S. wine promotion for 80 local Americans and Chiang Rai community leaders. CG also visited a secondary school and hospital that American missionaries founded over a century ago. At the former, he addressed 700 students and faculty about the 175th anniversary of U.S.-Thai relations. CG held a one-hour Thai-language interview with three dozen TV, radio and print journalists; partnered with the EducationUSA advisory network to hold two outreach events promoting higher-education opportunities in the U.S.; and hosted a lunch with recent International Visitor alumni. Lastly, CG visited the New Life Center to deliver books donated by the Ambassador's wife to teenage hill tribe girls sheltered and educated there. Throughout the two days, staff provided consular services to local American citizens. ¶2. Comment. "ConGen Chiang Rai" encountered highly receptive audiences at every event. The two-day road show to northern Thailand's second-largest city advanced our Mission Strategic Goal of promoting deeper understanding of the U.S. and its role in the world, especially among younger Thais. Our public encounters allowed us encourage a better understanding of democracy among the local populace, and to share ideas about American culture and society. Moreover, our message highlighted the wide-range of Mission efforts supporting issues important to the Thai Government and people. We plan to take our road show to Lampang in Spring 2009. End Summary and Comment. -------------- -------------- Soft Diplomacy in the North's "Second City" -------------- -------------- ¶3. We selected Chiang Rai as the venue for our two-day road show given its status as northern Thailand's second-largest province (1.3 million people, including a significant ethnic minority population). Chiang Rai's size makes it a political heavyweight in the region, with eight seats in the national parliament. For three straight elections dating back to 2001, all eight seats have been swept by the governing People's Power Party and its Thai Rak Thai antecedent. Economically, Chiang Rai holds promise as Thailand's gateway to the Greater Mekong Subregion and its growing trade flows to and from China via neighboring Laos and Burma. -------------- -------------- -------------- Outreach, Business Promotion Among Community Leaders, Local Americans -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶4. We staged "ConGen Chiang Rai" out of the brand new Le Meridien hotel, which is managed by Starwood, a U.S. company. We were in fact the hotel's very first overnight guests, and helped put the property on the local map by drawing about 80 American and Thai guests to a reception there the evening of October 29. CG addressed the guests, who included the city's mayor and the president Chiang Rai's leading university, by highlighting the century-old links between Americans and Chiang Rai as well as this year's 175th anniversary of U.S.-Thai relations. Guests visited a promotional corner decorated with U.S. flags, posters and brochures. Guests also were served "Peter Vella" wine from California that is imported by Thailand's Siam Winery. ¶5. During both days of the road show, "ConGen Chiang Rai" provided consular services to American citizens in the area, who comprise a sizeable portion of the over 7,000 Americans resident in our northern Thailand consular district. -------------- -------------- Promoting Educational Opportunity in the U.S. -------------- -------------- ¶6. Several road show activities focused on educational opportunities in the U.S. At the Chiang Rai Wittayakhom School, founded by American missionaries in 1888, CG spoke in Thai to 700 students and faculty about study programs in the U.S., and described how educational exchanges have been a central part of the 175 years of U.S.-Thai relations. CG and staff then visited Overbrook Hospital, also founded by American missionaries over a century ago. ¶7. We also partnered with the Thailand office of EducationUSA, CHIANG MAI 00000166 002.2 OF 002 a State Department-funded educational advisory network, for two outreach events promoting higher-education opportunities in the U.S. One event was held at Chiang Rai's most prominent secondary school, the Samakkhee Wittayakhom School. There the CG kicked off an EducationUSA advisory session with about 50 students, faculty, and guidance counselors from four area schools. In his remarks, CG noted that Thailand ranks ninth in the world in terms of the number of foreign students who pursue studies in the U.S. CG and staff also visited an EducationUSA promotional booth at the Chiang Rai branch of Thailand's American University Alumni Association, which provides English-language training for Thais and Thai-language training for Americans and other foreigners. -------------- Meet the Press -------------- ¶8. A keynote event of the road show was CG's one-hour Thai-language interview with over 30 TV, radio and print journalists. The journalists included stringers from several national newspapers and the Chiang Rai affiliates of four national television stations as well as Radio Thailand. CG opened the session with remarks about the purpose and goals of the two-day road show, and highlighted the 175th anniversary of U.S.-Thai relations as well as the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. During the Q-and-A session that followed, CG commented on the U.S. electoral process, the impact of the U.S. presidential elections on our Asia policy, the global financial crisis, Thailand's domestic political crisis, U.S.-Thai counternarcotics cooperation, U.S. policy toward Burma, and U.S. diplomatic objectives and operations in northern Thailand. -------------- Support for Vulnerable Populations -------------- ¶9. We concluded our two-day road show with two events that highlighted USG support for NGOs engaged in combating trafficking in persons (TIP). CG hosted a lunch with four recent International Visitor alumni, three of whom had visited the U.S. on anti-TIP programs. CG and staff also visited the New Life Center to deliver books donated by the Ambassador's wife to teenage hill tribe girls sheltered and educated there. The Center, a registered NGO that was founded in 1987 by American Baptist missionaries, shelters about 60 female hill tribe teens who are at-risk for or have experienced labor exploitation. The Center also offers educational opportunities to these young women, who have little or no previous formal schooling. MORROW