Thais planning mild protest

Press, Issue 33846, 19 May 1975, Page 15

Thais planning mild protest

(By BRUCE PALLING, of the "Times," through N.Z.P.A.)

BANGKOK. May 18.

Mr Kukrit Pramoj, the Thai Prime Minister, has said his Government will hand the United States a memorandum objecting to the recent use of its bases in Thailand for action to obtain the return of the seized merchant ship Mayaguez from Cambodia.

Mr Kukrit also said all treaties made between Thailand and the United States would be reviewed to bring them into line- with the changing conditions in SouthEast Asia. His statement came after a special three-hour Cabinet meeting. He told a press conference that he would not be asking for an apology from the United States.

Mr Anant Panyarachun, the Thai Ambassador to the United States, has been recalled for consultations. There is no indication how long he will remain in Bangkok.

Contrary to reports from ! the Thai military command, l Foreign Ministry sources say that Mr Edward Masters, the ( United States Charge d’Affaires, has admitted that - American aircraft from the air base at Korat, north-east

of Bangkok, took part in the sinking of the Cambodian gunboats involved in the I seizing of the Mayaguez. Earlier, the Bangkok press; had speculated that the Foreign Ministry had prepared contingency plans for lan immediate American withdrawal from the remaining four bases, and for a refusal |to accept the credentials of IMr Charles Whitehouse, the ' newly-arrived American ' Ambassador-designate. The relatively mild response of the Thai Government to the disregard of its wishes by the United States was expected by observers in Bangkok, given the strength of the Thai Armed Forces and their desire to maintain close connections with the United States.

Mr Kukrit rejected the notion of hastening the withdrawal of the 25,000 or so American troops before next March, the date already announced. “Speeding up the withdrawal may inconvenience us in many ways because we have to take charge of al) the camp sites and so on,” he said. “We also need time.”