THAI BUREAUCRACY IMPEDES PROGRESS ON HCOC

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 001437 SIPDIS FOR ISN/MTR E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2019 TAGS: MTCRE PREL MNUC KSCA ETTC TSPA TH SUBJECT: THAI BUREAUCRACY IMPEDES PROGRESS ON HCOC REF: STATE 44998 Classified By: Political Counselor George P. Kent, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) (C) MFA Deputy Director of the Peace, Security and Disarmament Division Pattarat Hongtong told us June 16 that subscribing to the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC),as encouraged reftel, would be difficult for RTG at this time. While the RTG had ratified the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, it had not taken action on the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects or the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, both of which were necessary for HCOC subscription. Pattarat told us that the MFA understood the importance of subscribing to the HCOC but that other elements of the Thai bureaucracy would need to concur with subscribing to the HCOC, and efforts to convince them to agree to these other Conventions had not been successful. As such, Pattarat said that the MFA had judged that it was more useful to focus efforts on gaining support for participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative and endorsement of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. GRIFFITHS