Trump-Prayut to meet Monday

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday night, Thailand time, marking an upgrade of ties between the traditional allies.

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Trump-Prayut meet to seal Thai-US normalisation

Reuters

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday night, Thailand time, marking an upgrade of ties between traditional allies that have been strained since the 2014 coup.

His visit will be the first official visit by a Thai prime minister since ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's trip to Washington in 2005, a year before another army coup overturned his rule.

Gen Prayut and Mr Trump have at least one thing in common. Both have a history of lashing out at the media, with Prime Minister Prayut infamously warning in 2015 that he has the power to execute reporters. He said he was joking.

Washington was critical of Gen Prayut's May 22, 2014, coup. It cut some aid and downgraded joint military exercises with Thailand. Some training, including the annual Cobra Gold military exercise, Asia's largest, continued but only on a smaller scale.

Monday's White House meeting will underscore Mr Trump's willingness to embrace authoritarian leaders and regimes at the expense of human rights concerns, rights groups say.

Bangkok's ties with North Korea, Thailand's trade surplus with the United States and defence issues will be high on the agenda for the White House meeting, Thai government and senior Thai military sources believe.

The visit will be an opportunity for the Americans to highlight North Korean business operations in Thailand after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Thailand to shut down North Korean businesses during a visit to Bangkok last month.

A senior military source said Thailand will also discuss new defence purchase deals and finalise existing ones, including the delivery of four Black Hawk helicopters Thailand agreed to buy from the US before the 2014 coup.

Washington says it wants Thailand to take a diplomatic lead in the region in "freezing out" North Korea, which has an embassy in Thailand.

In response to US pressure, Thailand last month said trade between North Korea and Thailand had dropped by 94% this year.

But information on the ground paints a different picture.

Reuters reporters visited seven businesses jointly or party owned by North Koreans out of 12 businesses listed in the Thai commerce ministry's business directory last month.

At least two people involved in those North Korean businesses who spoke to reporters claimed there has been no pressure from the Thai authorities. Another said indirect pressure meant he could no longer ship directly to North Korea.

All three declined to be named.

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