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prior to his
visit
to Hanoi and Pe–
king, trying to wind up this Vietnam
war. Three U. S. ambassadors from
that area also carne there to confer
with Mr. Kissinger.
But
T
had an important personal
meeting (by invitation) with Prime
Minister Kittikachorn less than 24
hours
before
Mr. Kissinger's meet–
ing with him, and 1 consider this
meeting, for that reason and at this
critica! time, of great import. Be–
cause, after this meeting with Thai–
land's Prime Minister - and being
already acquainted with His Maj–
esty Bhumibol Adulyadej , Thai–
land's king, I feel that 1 can tell you
that the main bastion of defending
the free world against Communist
inroads in Southeast Asia is due to
shift from Saigon to Bangkok.
Accompanied by Mr. Stanley R.
Rader, our Ambassador College
Chief Counsel and Mr. Osamu Go–
toh, chairman of our Department of
Asian Studies, we were met at the
entrance to the official residence of
the Prime Minister by his aide, an
army colonel, and were ushered into
an antechamber. In a minute or two,
the smiling but serious Prime Minis–
ter greeted us in his living room. We
were introduced to his son-in-law,
who was trained and educated in
the United States.
Immediately, we began to discuss
the problerns of this crisis moment
in Southeast Asia. First, 1 asked him
his opinion about whether President
Thieu would survive in South Viet–
nam in the wake of the cease-fire.
He had recently had a talk with an
emissary and confidant of President
Thieu, and told me that he has con–
cluded that Presiden! Thieu may
now very likely survive a political
test at the polls. The South Viet–
namese government is now stronger
and more stable than at any time
during the war. However, as
1
said,
the Communists were
NOT
required
by the cease-fire agreement between
the United States and Hanoi to re–
move their troops from the northern
portions of South Vietnam - and
PLAIN TRUTH Moy 1973
the Communists control many small
villages here and tbere throughout
South Vietnam. And, of course, they
can vote. Their propaganda will
continue, and perhaps sabotage and
even guerrilla warfare.
The Senior Leader
in Southeast Asia
But the Prime Minister of Thai–
land reminded us that he is the
se–
nior /eader
in Southeast Asia. He
has been
in
office longer than any
other bead of state in the entire
area. And he has relentlessly and
vigorously opposed Communist in–
roads. He served as Prime Minister
for the first time
in
1958 and has
been Prime Minister continuously
since 1963. And he has been sing–
ularly
SUCCESSFUL
in resisting Com–
munist advances.
Just as President Suharto of In–
donesia told me
his
problem
in
holding off Communist inroads was
primarily that of combatting
inter–
na!
subversion, so it has been
in
Thailand. To grasp the strategic sig–
nificance of this, you'll have to re–
member that Thailand, formerly
called Siam, is bordered on the
northeast by Laos - into which
North Vietnamese troops had infil–
trated - during the war. Vietnam is
just beyond, so that at one point,
Thailand is only about 65 or 70
miles from North Vietnam. Yet the
North Vietnamese have not a t–
tempted to invade Thailand.
Prime Minister Kittikachorn
pointed out that other leaders
in
the
area - Prime Minister Lee of Singa–
pore, President Suharto of In–
donesia, and Presiden! Marcos of
the Philippines - have all adopted
his long-tested and successful ap–
proach of vigilant and inspired na–
tional efforts and education to
oppose Communist inroads. He ad–
mitted the infiltration of Commu–
nists (civilian - not military) in the
northeastern area of Thailand -
where they are only sorne 65 miles
from North Vietnam, but he said
the situation there was under con–
trol.
We turned, then, to a discussion
of domestic problems within Thai–
land. Education and birth control
are two
MAJOR
problems. Thailand
is rated as 80% literate, but that still
leaves close to one in five - mostly
in outlying and mountain areas -
who can neither read nor write.
1
ex–
plained to the
Prim~
Minister about
our own Ambassador College coop–
erative participation in the program
of His Majesty the King in bringing
education to the mountain tribes,
and he expressed his appreciation
on behalf of the people of the coun–
try.
He said the birthrate in Bangkok
is in excess of 3% per annum, and in
the outlying areas, over 7% - much
too high - and creating great pres–
sures.
Black September
Commandos in Bangkok
Incidentally, in talking with the
Prime Minister, 1 received sorne in–
teresting details regarding a world–
news headline at the year's end.
You may remember reading of
sorne "Black September" Arab coro–
mandos taking Israelí Embassy em–
ployees in Bangkok hostage. A
number of Arab governments
voiced open opposition to this polít–
ica! act of the Black September
group. Both His Majesty, King
Bhumibol, and Prime Minister
Kittikachorn were personally involved.
It
was on December 28, 1972, and
it was a national holiday in Thai–
land for the investiture of His Maj–
esty's son as Crown Prince. It was a
most important day for the royal
family and for the government.
Israelí Ambassador Amir did not go
to the embassy on that day, but six
ofthe embassy staff did. Four mem–
bers of the "Black September"
movement, with machine guns, en–
tered the Israelí Embassy, taking all
staff employees as hostages. They
demanded the release of 36 Arabs
held in prison in Israel.
The Israeli Ambassador irnmedi-
47