'U.S. preparing Thailand base’

Press, 21 October 1976, Page 6

' U.S. preparing Thailand base’

'pa Bangkok American technicians in [civilian clothing are secretly ! preparing for United States (military flights, a base in (Thailand used by bombers in the Indo-China war, according to Thai Air .Force sources.

The United States mission in Bangkok would neither confirm nor deny the report, but a spokesman said yesterday that an official statement was being prepared. The Thai sources said work at the Takhli airfield, 90 miles north of Bangkok, had been under way since the withdrawal of all United States combat forces from Thailand on July 20. The timing indicated that there was no direct connection with the October 6 coup in which a military Junta took power

from the civilian government. Reports at the time of the United States withdrawal said Takhli might be used as a refuelling stop for United Statts Navy Orion observation planes keeping watch on the Soviet fleet in the Indian Ocean. Sources at the Thai Foreign Ministry have indicated that one of the seven United States bases abandoned after the Indo-China war might be used for refuelling spy planes that fly to another new American base at Diego Garcia, off the coast of India. The air force sources said that Americans — groups of 20 to 30 men at a time, “rotated on a regular basis” — had been working at the base, and they emphasised that the project was intended for United States military flights.