SIAM FEARS NEW TROUBLES

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27591, 23 February 1955, Page 13

SIAM FEARS NEW TROUBLES

Report To S.E.A.T.O. Delegates

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) BANGKOK, February 22. Delegates to the South-east Asia Defence Treaty conference gathered today in an atmosphere made tense by a Siamese report that Communist “Free Thai” forces are massing near Siam’s border, the American Associated Press reports.

Siamese officials expressed concern that Communist refugees in Laos, on Siam’s north-east border, should stir up troubie during the three-day conference, which will open tomorrow.*

But Mr R. G. Casey, the Australian Minister of External Affairs, told reporters he saw no “immediate cause for alarm” over the pro-Communist elements in Laos. Mr Casey, an early arrival in Bangkok, added that he did not think the nearby trouble spots of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam were “impossible of solution.”

At a news conference yesterday the Prime Minister of Siam (Mr Pibul Songgram) said 20,000 Communist “Free Thai” troops were in the Yunnan province of China poised for a possible attack.

The border with Yunnan is about 100 miles north of Siam. It is separated by a segment of the Indo-Chinese State of Laos, which is dominated by the Communists.

“If we don’t do anything about it, communism will move across the Mekong river and dominate all of South-east Asia,” Mr Songgram said. Siam’s troops could handle the “Free Thai” forces, but would need help if Communist China intervened.

He said he favoured the setting up of a N.A.T.0.-type army dedicated to “peace in this part of the world.” Mr Carlos P. Garcia, Foreign Secretary of the Philippines, said he would propose a common air force for collective defence by the member nations — the United States, Britain, France, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Siam and Pakistan.

The United States Secretary of State (Mr Dulles), before his plane left Manila for Bangkok, said in a statement that the time was ripe for “plain speaking” to prevent “a reckless Communist miscalculation which could endanger the lives of many.” Five formal meetings will be held, beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. All but the last one will be behind closed doors. The final session at 3 p.m. on Friday will be open to the press. A United Press correspondent said that in spite of yesterday’s statements by the Siamese Prime Minister, there was little chance Foreign Ministers of the eight nations would set up a military organisation during the present conference. The main conference would concern itself with ways and means of stopping and eliminating the growth of communism in South-east Asia. Groups of experts were expected to explore the military problem. A second group of economic experts would work out co-operative measures to present the breeding of communism in SouthOutside the framework of the S.E.A.T.O. agreement, the international troubles concerning Formosa and IndoChina were expected to be discussed.