Unwittingly, Thailand has bowed to US

COMMENTARY

Unwittingly, Thailand has bowed to US

Published: 26 Nov 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Partnership. This word sounds warm and tender. It also implies mutual respect. Then again, it can also be deceiving.

Just take a closer look at the Joint Vision Statement for the Thai-US Defence Alliance. It is "a 21st Century Security Partnership" for the two countries whose ties go back 180 years.

The statement was carefully crafted and the wording was delicately selected for Defence Minister ACM Sukumpol Suwanatat and his American counterpart, Leon Panetta, so they both could be proud when they signed it on Nov 15.

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d_jh
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Discussion 11 : 27 Nov 2012 at 15.2011
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Or, write again when the rule of law in the US applies equally to all US citizens and visitors. Currently, only citizens in the US are protected from unwarranted phone tapping. If you are not a citizen in the US, even the names of books you check out from the library can be provided to law enforcement with out a warrant or subpoena. Thank you PATRIOT act.
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boons
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Discussion 10 : 27 Nov 2012 at 03.5010
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This is an extremely weird editorial. To pretend that US military support is "nothing" is to pretend that "security is nothing". This would be a weird statement in any era, but in an era of an increasingly militarized, wealthy and expansionist China -- it's potentially an extremely big deal. And what did the US get? Intellectual property protection? I don't know what this writer's priorities are, but from where I'm sitting it looks like Thailand agreed to uphold already agreed upon international laws, and in exchange Thailand got military protection from what many consider a rising threat. Certainly not "nothing".
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awat
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Discussion 9 : 26 Nov 2012 at 19.039
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Thailand gets armed forces support; US gets intellectual property rights and biodiversity? All Thais benefit from US supporting their armed forces; entrepreneurial Thais benefit by property rights laws, and don't all Thais benefit more directly and quickly from biodiversity regulations here than people in the US? Its such an odd statement. I dont see that the US gets anything here...other than what Thais bow best for: the flesh trade. I should let my cat write opinion pieces here...
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cpkinnally
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Discussion 8 : 26 Nov 2012 at 14.528
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Thailand bows to anything, as long as some money is coming in . . .
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somnamna
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Discussion 7 : 26 Nov 2012 at 14.157
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USA or China? lol are you serious Khun Saritdet? your government is ruled now by commie Chinese ancienter, are you really happy with that?
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artk
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Discussion 6 : 26 Nov 2012 at 13.036
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Or would you rather bowed down to China? The choice is pretty clear ...
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toddbbot
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Discussion 5 : 26 Nov 2012 at 10.435
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This article has no point at all. Thailand has the option to join both the TPP and the APT so why limit ourselves to only one of them. The writer of this article needs to thaw his way of ice-age thinking (already frozen, obviously) and get on with the modern time. This ain't WW II when you could only choose one side to ally with. Besides, what's wrong with the TPP and what's up with all these anti-free trade buzz? Read this,

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/16/will-thailand-join-the-tpp/
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pointman-1
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Discussion 4 : 26 Nov 2012 at 09.094
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Thailand, hasn't bowed to the United States, or to anyone. In fact, Thailand, decided to pull its troops out of the Middle East, and no-one even blinked, or questioned that decision. The Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP) super free-trade agreeemnt isn't being pushed by the United States. If there's any push at all for TPP, it's coming from within Asia its-self. The bototm line is, "every government has a right to make it's own decisions on trade, or on supporting the TPP." It's very simple...You either say YES, or NO.
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Ian
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Discussion 3 : 26 Nov 2012 at 09.073
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China looks strong, but so can someone in the initial stages of cancer. America looks sick, but a sick person can recover. Predicting the future is fun,but rarely accurate. My grandfather used to say, "when in doubt, do nowt", the Thais are good at this.
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djay
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Discussion 2 : 26 Nov 2012 at 08.192
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I'm glad this article is in the "Opionion" section, as that is exactly what it is - an opintion. And everyone knows what opinions are like - as in everybody has one. Regardless, I read the artice several times, and I am still trying to figure out how the author got that Thailand "bowed to the US".
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Unwittingly, Thailand has bowed to US | Bangkok Post: opinion