711.922/84
The Siamese Minister (Rajamaitri) to the Secretary of State21
Sir: With reference to a note from the Siamese Councillor of State for Foreign Affairs of the 19th October, addressed to your representative in Bangkok, indicating that it is the desire of His Majesty’s Government to secure in their treaties a large measure of uniformity, complete equality of form and entire fiscal and jurisdictional autonomy, I now have the honour to inform Your Excellency, under instructions from my Government, that His Majesty’s Government hereby give notice for their part of the termination of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation with its Annex between Siam and the United States of America signed at Washington, 16th December, 1920.
It is very earnestly desired, in view of the fact that the Penal Code, the Civil and Commercial Codes, the Codes of Procedure and the Law for the Organization of Courts have been promulgated and have been in force for a certain period of time, to terminate the theoretical and unused right of evocation and to enjoy unrestricted jurisdictional autonomy. His Majesty’s Government would therefore request friendly assent of your Excellency’s Government to the discontinuation of a jurisdictional privilege which has outlived its time.
[Page 1000]It is however understood that, as provided in Article 17 of the Treaty, all the above-mentioned agreements shall remain in force for one year from the date of the receipt of this notice.
I have [etc.]
- Original missing from Department flies; reprinted from Department of State, Treaty Information, Bulletin No. 86, November 1936, p. 18.↩