July 13, 2015Updated December 13, 2018
Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations
Overview
Thailand is a long-time military ally and significant trade
and economic partner for
of the United States. For many
years, Thailand was seen as a model democracy in
Southeast Asia, although this image, along with
Washington-Bangkok relations, has been complicated by
deep political and economic instability in the wake of two
military coups in the past nine years. The first, in 2006,
displaced Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a popular but
polarizing figure who remains a source of many divisions
within Thailand. The second, in 2014, deposed an acting
prime minister after Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra,
was ousted from the premiership by a Constitutional Court
decision that many saw as politically motivated.
As the Obama Administration executes its policy of
rebalancing to Asia, many observers have hoped that
Thailand could provide an anchor for U.S. initiatives in
Southeast Asia such as broadening regional defense
cooperation, fostering more liberal trade and investment
regimes in Asia, and strengthening the region’s multilateral
organizations. However, Bangkok’s domestic problems and
the resulting damage to the U.S.-Thai relationship may
mean that opportunities for further bilateral coordination
are diminishing. U.S. officials face the challenge of
expressing disapproval and pressuring the Thais to restore
the democratic process while not sacrificing important
cooperative aspects of the relationship.
Assembly (NLA), widely seen as a “rubber stamp”
legislature, which elected Prayuth as Prime Minister on
August 21, 2014.
The NCPO is drafting a new constitution, and its members
produced a preliminary draft in early 2015. This would
grant amnesty to those involved in the 2014 coup, and
allow a person to become prime minister without being
popularly elected. The NCPO announced that national
elections will not be held for at least a year; in May 2015,
the government further pushed back elections to AugustSeptember 2016.
Thailand’s widely revered King Bhumiphol Adulyadej
endorsed the provisional constitution installing Prayuth as
head of the government. However, uncertainty about the
kind’s health contributes to anxiety about the succession
process and further instability if the monarchy is shaken. He
is 87, and has been hospitalized for much of the past four
years.
Political Crisis and 2014 Military Coup
The past several years have seen many large-scale political
demonstrations and some violent clashes, including weeks
of conflict in Bangkok in 2010 during which over 80 were
killed. Through nearly a decade of turmoil, the country’s
political factions have been divided primarily between two
main groups: “yellow shirts” (a mix of the military,
royalists, the bureaucracy, and largely urban and middle
class citizens) and “red shirts” (mostly Thaksin loyalists
who supported his populist policies that benefited the poor,
rural regions of Thailand).
Political parties that were either led by or supportive of
Thaksin have won each of the last six national elections,
dating back to 2001. However, a series of Prime Ministers
have been removed from office, either via coup or judicial
action. In the most recent coup, on May 20, 2014, the Thai
military seized power under the leadership ofArmy
Commander Prayuth Chan-ocha. The military then
dissolved Parliament, detained hundreds of political leaders
and academics, imposed a curfew, and restricted media
outlets. Prayuth and a group of senior military leaders,
known as the National Council of Peace and Order
(NCPO), selected members of a new National Legislative
U.S. Response to the Coup
After the 2014 coup, Secretary of State John Kerry released
a statement saying that he was “concerned” about the
“coup” and that Thai military leaders should restore civilian
rule. The United States immediately suspended military aid
to Thailand, including $3.5 million in Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) and $85,000 in International Military
Education and Training (IMET) funds. However, the
Administration has not suspended non-military aid, and
humanitarian assistance to Thailand—including
international disaster assistance, migration and refugee aid,
and global health programs—largely has continued. The
United States also cancelled a series of military exercises
and Thai military officers’ visits. Nevertheless, in February
2015, the annual Cobra Gold military exercise—the largest
in Asia—went ahead, although fewer U.S. troops
participated than in previous years. In 2016, the exercises
will take place once again, but U.S. participation will
remain limited.
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Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations
After the 2006 coup, the U.S. reaction was similar: U.S.
funding for development assistance and military financing
and training programs was cut off while the military held
power, but other U.S. assistance continued to flow.
U.S.-Thailand Security Relations
Security cooperation arguably is the strongest pillar of the
U.S.-Thai relationship. In addition to hosting Cobra Gold
and other military exercises, Thailand has provided access
for the U.S. military to important facilities, particularly the
strategically located and well-equipped Utapao airbase. The
U.S. military used Utapao for refueling efforts during
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s, as well as
for multinational relief efforts after the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami and April 2015 Nepal earthquake. Intelligence
sharing and law enforcement cooperation remain valuable
as the United States confronts international criminal
networks and the transnational nature of the ISIS threat.
Before the most recent coup, U.S. military leaders touted
the alliance as apolitical and praised the Thai armed forces
for exhibiting restraint amidst the competing protests and
political turmoil. However, the coup put the Thai army at
the center of politics, repudiating years of U.S. training
about the importance of civilian control of the military.
Prior to the 2014 coup, military funding had just returned to
pre-2006 coup levels. With the United States suspending
military assistance and cancelling exercises, security ties
between the United States and Thailand could weaken.
Some analysts express concern that this provides China
with an opportunity to expand its influence in the Thai
defense establishment.
U.S.-Thailand Trade and Economic
Relations
Thailand is a middle-income economy, and trade and
foreign investment play a large role in its economy. In
2014, Thailand’s GDP grew 0.7%—the slowest rate in three
years. In 2013, Thailand was the United States’ 24th largest
goods trading partner, with $38 billion in total two-way
goods trade. Thailand is not a participant in the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, the Obama
Administration’s signature economic initiative in Asia.
According to the U.S. Trade Representative, some of the
largest barriers to trade in Thailand are high tariff rates in
selected industries, particularly in agriculture; a lack of
transparency in customs policy where Customs Department
officials have “significant discretionary authority”; and the
use of price controls or import licenses in some industries.
Poor intellectual property rights protection also placed
Thailand on the USTR’s Priority Watch List in 2013.
Thailand’s Regional Relations
Thailand’s importance for U.S. interests in Southeast Asia
stems from its large economy, its good relationships with
numerous neighbors, including Burma and China, and, until
the coups, its relatively long-standing democratic rule.
However, because of Thailand’s ongoing political paralysis,
the country’s neighbors increasingly are concerned about
Thailand’s ability to play a leadership role in regional
initiatives, especially those relating to human trafficking
and mediating maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
Historically, Sino-Thai ties have been quite close,
particularly when compared to China’s relations with most
other Southeast Asian states. Thailand has no territorial
disputes with China in the South China Sea, and trade with
China has boomed under the China-ASEAN Free Trade
Agreement, which came into effect in January 2010.
Human Rights and Democracy Concerns
Some observers, including those in Congress, have long
criticized Thailand’s record on human rights. Alleged
abuses include extra-judicial killings, curtailment of the
press and non-governmental groups, restriction of freedom
of expression under strict lèse-majesté laws, and the bloody
suppression of demonstrations in 2010. Since the 2014
coup, observers increasingly are concerned about
Thailand’s human rights record. Prime Minister Prayuth
lifted martial law in April 2015, but afterwards invoked
Article 44 of the interim constitution, granting him the
authority to issue any order to “strengthen public unity and
harmony” in Thailand. Human rights groups immediately
criticized the move as overreaching and claimed it
increased the likelihood of future human rights abuses.
Thailand’s security forces also have been accused of
human rights abuses, particularly in the southern Muslimmajority provinces where a separatist insurgency has
existed for decades. Since 2004, violence in the region has
intensified, resulting in the deaths of around 6,000 people.
Thailand is surrounded by considerably poorer countries,
and many economic migrants and refugees illegally cross
into Thailand. Once they arrive, they are vulnerable to
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Many observers say
Thailand largely has overlooked these concerns; Thai
officials argue that the influx is due to consensual human
smuggling. In 2014, the State Department downgraded
Thailand to Tier 3 status—the worst ranking—in its annual
Trafficking in Persons report, finding that the Thai
government was not fully in compliance with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. In one widely
reported case from 2013, Thai immigration and military
officers were accused of trafficking Rohingya Muslims, a
persecuted minority from neighboring Myanmar. In mid2015, Thai authorities were loath to help Rohingya refugees
stranded in smugglers’ boats in the Andaman Sea, despite
pressure from Western countries.
For more information, see CRS Report RL32593, Thailand:
Background and U.S. Relations, and CRS Insight IN10072,
Military Coup in Thailand.
Emma Chanlett-Avery, echanlettavery@crs.loc.gov, 77748
Ben Dolven, bdolven@crs.loc.gov, 7-7626
Wil Mackey, wmackey@crs.loc.gov, 7-5050
www.crs.gov | 7-5700
IF10253Despite these enduring ties, more than
a decade of political turmoil in Thailand, including two
military coups, in 2006 and 2014, has complicated U.S.Thai relations and erased Thailand’s image as a model
democracy in Southeast Asia. In October 2016, Thailand’s
political landscape was further rattled when Crown Prince
Maha Vajiralongkorn became the country’s new sovereign.
He succeeded his widely revered father, King Bhumiphol
Adulyadej, who was, when he died, the world’s longest
reigning monarch and considered a stabilizing force.
Thaskin was, and still is, a divisive figure, and his critics
accuse him of corruption and human rights abuses. Since
2001, Thaksin and his supporters have won all six national
elections, but their leaders have repeatedly been removed
from office, either by military coup or court order. (The
2014 coup deposed an acting prime minister after Thaksin’s
sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was ousted from the
premiership by a Constitutional Court decision that many
observers saw as politically motivated.) During this period
of instability, Thailand has seen numerous large-scale
demonstrations, and some have turned violent. In 2010,
clashes over several weeks killed 80 civilians in Bangkok.
Thailand has been run by a military government since the
2014 coup, and its leaders, under Prime Minister Prayuth
Chan-ocha, have rewritten Thailand’s constitution in ways
that protect the military’s political influence in the future.
Many observers have criticized the regime’s human rights
record, including its harassment of government critics and
restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. After
more than four years of military rule, the government has
called for nationwide elections on February 24, 2019, and
lifted some of the harshest restrictions on assembly for the
campaign, but many believe the political changes of recent
years will limit the nation’s return to democracy.
The United States suspended security assistance to Thailand
after the 2014 coup as required by law, but many other
aspects of the U.S.-Thai military relationship remain,
including the annual Cobra Gold military exercise, the
largest multilateral exercise in Asia. The United States
continues to provide non-security aid to the country, and
maintains regional offices for many U.S. programs at the
Embassy in Bangkok.
As one of the region’s more developed nations, Thailand
has the potential to support U.S. initiatives in the region,
such as broadening regional defense cooperation. However,
Bangkok’s domestic problems and the resulting damage to
U.S.-Thai relations have diminished opportunities for new
bilateral coordination. An October 2017 visit by Prayuth to
Washington, DC, which included a meeting with President
Trump, produced little concrete result, although it indicated
that the Trump Administration hopes to maintain steady
relations with the military regime.
Thailand’s Political Crisis
Thailand’s political turmoil has involved a broad clash
between the nation’s political establishment (a mix of the
military, royalists, senior bureaucrats, and many urban and
middle class citizens) and backers of former Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in the 2006 coup
and who resides overseas. Thaksin was popular, particularly
with the rural poor, because of his populist policies—some
of which have been adopted by the military regime. Yet,
The 2014 coup was Thailand’s 12th successful coup since
1932. It installed then-Army Commander Prayuth as prime
minister and head of the military junta known as the
National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). Although
Prayuth declared an end to martial law in April 2015, the
junta has retained authoritarian powers, including under a
new Constitution approved by Thai voters in 2016 that was
later signed into law, with a few revisions, by the new King.
The new Constitution limits the power of political parties. It
also gives the military the ability to indirectly appoint
members to an upper house that will, along with an elected
lower house, select the country’s prime ministers.
International observers will likely scrutinize the upcoming
polls for any irregularities or suppression. Over the past two
decades, Thailand has held mostly free and fair elections,
although corruption and vote-buying have been prevalent.
After the 2014 coup, the United States immediately
suspended military aid to Thailand, including $3.5 million
in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and $85,000 in
International Military Education and Training (IMET)
funds. However, the United States has not suspended nonmilitary aid, and humanitarian assistance to the country
largely has continued. In February 2018, USAID committed
$10 million to curtail human trafficking in Thailand. The
annual Cobra Gold military exercise also has gone ahead. In
the years immediately after the coup, fewer U.S. troops
participated in the exercise than in previous years, but the
scale of U.S. participation grew in 2018, and in another sign
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Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations
of warming relations, Defense Secretary James Mattis met
with Prawit Wongsuwan, Thaland’s Defense Minister,
twice in 2018, in April and October.
Royal Succession
The monarchy is one of Thailand’s most powerful political
institutions. It has few formal authorities, but during King
Bhumiphol Adulyadej’s reign, the institution enjoyed
popular support and, in turn, political influence. In October
2016, King Bhumiphol passed away, ending a 70-year reign
that had made him the world’s longest serving monarch.
After his accession to the throne, Bhumiphol’s son Maha
Vajiralongkorn, officially known as King Rama X, has been
more actively politically, opposing some parts of the 2016
Constitution, particularly the requirement that he appoint a
regent if traveling overseas, and taking control of the
bureau managing the throne’s fortune in July 2017.
King Bhumiphol rarely interfered in politics in his later
years, but had generally been seen as a moderating force
who sought to foster stability among the country’s different
political actors. The new king is much less popular than his
father, and his political inclinations less certain. If the
palace becomes a weaker institution, many political
observers believe that competition between other powers,
including the military, elected leaders, and the bureaucracy,
may lead to further political instability. The military, in
particular, has played a major role in supporting royal
legitimacy, and it may continue to do so. Since the 2014
coup, as the military government has sought to limit
political criticism, it has enforced Thailand’s lese-majeste
laws, which forbid insults to the monarch, more broadly.
U.S.-Thailand Security Relations
Security cooperation has long been the strongest pillar of
the U.S.-Thai relationship. In addition to hosting military
exercises, such as Cobra Gold, Thailand has provided the
U.S. military with access to important facilities, particularly
the strategically located Utapao airbase. The U.S. military
used Utapao for refueling operations during its campaigns
in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s, as well as for
multinational relief efforts, including after the 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami and 2015 Nepal earthquake. For U.S.
officials, intelligence and law enforcement cooperation with
Thai counterparts remains a priority, particularly as the
United States confronts international criminal and drug
networks. In the past, transnational terrorist organizations
have taken advantage of Thailand’s relatively permissive
environment, including tourist-friendly travel procedures
and central location, for their operations in the region.
Before the most recent coup, U.S. military leaders touted
the alliance as apolitical and praised the Thai armed forces
for exhibiting restraint amidst the competing protests and
political turmoil. However, the coup put the Thai army at
the center of politics, in spite of years of U.S. training about
the importance of civilian control of the military. After the
United States suspended military assistance and cancelled
some exercises, several analysts noted that U.S.-Thai
security ties could weaken, and that Sino-Thai ties could
expand. In June 2017, the Thai government announced it
would buy 34 Chinese armored personnel carriers, perhaps
in an attempt to reduce its reliance on U.S.-made weapons.
U.S.-Thai Trade and Economic Relations
Thailand is an upper middle-income country, and trade and
foreign investment play a large role in its economy. In
2018, Thailand’s GDP is estimated to grow at 3.6%,
continuing a period of comparatively slow growth. The
United States is Thailand’s third largest trading partner,
behind Japan and China. In 2017, Thailand was the United
States’ 21st largest goods trading partner; its 26th largest
goods export market; and a source of $42 billion in total
two-way goods trade. In 2017, the United States ran a $20
billion trade deficit with Thailand, ranking Thailand as the
country with the 11th largest bilateral surplus with the
United States. In 2017, USTR placed Thailand on its
Priority Watch List because of the country’s poor
intellectual property rights protection and enforcement.
Thailand’s Regional Relations
Thailand’s importance for U.S. interests in Southeast Asia
stems from its large economy, its good relations with its
neighbors, and, until the coups, its relatively long-standing
democratic rule. However, because of Thailand’s ongoing
political turmoil, the government has been preoccupied with
domestic politics and has not played a leadership role in
regional initiatives, especially those relating to human
trafficking and mediating maritime disputes. Historically,
Sino-Thai ties have been close. Unlike several of its
Southeast Asian neighbors, Thailand has no formal
territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Thai
imports from China have boomed under the China-ASEAN
Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 2010.
Human Rights and Democracy Concerns
International groups, some Members of Congress, and U.S.
officials have criticized Thailand’s alleged human rights
abuses, including arbitrary arrests and the lack of
protections for trafficking victims, laborers, and refugees.
International groups have also identified human rights
violations in the Muslim-majority southern provinces where
there is an ongoing insurgency that has killed over 7,000
people since 2004. In its 2018 Trafficking in Persons report,
the State Department ranked Thailand as a Tier 2 country,
an improvement over recent years. Thailand has argued that
human smuggling, not trafficking, is the main cross-border
issue. Although there is a distinction (smuggling involves
illegal, but voluntary, cross-border movements),
undocumented migrants are often vulnerable to exploitation
by smugglers—which may be tantamount to trafficking.
Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention
or its 1967 Protocol and does not have a formal national
asylum framework. In 2016, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees reported that Thailand hosted
599,459 refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless people,
among others.
Emma Chanlett-Avery, Specialist in Asian Affairs
Ben Dolven, Specialist in Asian Affairs
Wil Mackey, Research Assistant
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IF10253
Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations
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