Thailand and the United States reaffirmed the long-standing alliance based on the shared values and mutual benefits during the high-level meetings in Bangkok last month.

Thailand is the oldest treaty ally of the United States in Asia, and the meeting took place as the 43rd Cobra Gold, the largest multilateral military exercise in the Asia-Pacific region, was undertaken in the country.

The 2nd Thailand-U.S. Strategic and Defense Dialogue (2+2) deliberated on advancing multi-faceted cooperation, in line with the Thailand-U.S. Communiqué on Strategic Alliance and Partnership, ranging from defense and security, economic partnership, climate actions, health security, education, science and technology, people-to-people ties, to collaborations at the regional and multilateral levels.

To further strengthen the deep ties, both sides recognized the importance of increasing high-level engagements and agreed to explore the possibility to establish the Strategic and Defense Dialogue (2+2) at the ministerial level.

On the defense and security cooperation, the meeting appreciated the steady progress in the long-standing defense alliance that has been the cornerstone of Thai-U.S. relations. In addition, both sides agreed to continue working to establish a Security Dialogue between the National Security Councils, establish a Strategic Law Enforcement Partnership Dialogue at working level to effectively respond to transnational crimes, and promote more cooperation on cyber security, including towards establishing a Cyber Security Dialogue. The meeting also underscored both countries’ commitment to upholding the shared values of democracy, human rights, human security, the long tradition of humanitarianism.

On the economic front, both sides committed to accelerating economic partnership, bilaterally and through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), in sectors of mutual interest, such as green transition, digital economy, EV and semiconductors. The meeting discussed Thailand’s vision for regional connectivity and commitment to promoting supply chain resilience. The meeting also discussed advancing cooperation on climate actions and clean energy.

Both sides also highlighted the long history of health cooperation and its contribution to addressing health challenges in both countries and the region. The meeting agreed to further strengthen partnership to advance public health capacity and global health security.

Recognizing people-to-people ties as the strong foundation of the bilateral ties, both sides discussed ways and means to promote greater exchanges and connection between the peoples.

Both sides also exchanged perspectives on the current global and regional security landscape, as well as elaborated on advancing cooperation at the regional and sub-regional levels, especially through the ASEAN–U.S. cooperation, ACMECS, the Mekong-U.S. Partnership (MUSP), and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

The meeting was co-chaired by Eksiri Pintaruchi, Thai Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and General Sanitchanog Sangkachantra, Thai Permanent Secretary for Defence, together with Daniel Kritenbrink, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Jedidiah P. Royal, U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.

In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence co-hosted the 9th Strategic Dialogue between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State, and the 8th Defense Strategic Talks between the Ministry of Defence and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Photo courtesy of https://www.mfa.go.th/