892.6363/147
The First Secretary of the British Embassy (Thorold) to Mr. Willys R. Peck of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs
Dear Mr. Peck: Since speaking to you this morning we have received a further cable from our Minister in Bangkok. He informs us that he saw the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday and the latter told him that the Thai Minister in Washington had been invited to call at the State Department where he had been informed that Thailand might be offered economic assistance on suitable terms. Sir J. Crosby impressed on the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs that this was a golden opportunity for Thailand to restore her former good relations with the United States and with her aid and with that of Britain, to avoid becoming an economic vassal of Japan. The Deputy Minister expressed anxiety lest by introducing the United States as a third party into the discussions which are already in progress over rubber and tin, the situation would be complicated and cause delay. Sir J. Crosby gave it as his opinion that the Deputy Minister need have no fear of this and that assignments to Great Britain would be tantamount to assignments to the United States and vice versa.
I am glad to see that this reply by our Minister is in accordance with the reply which you have already given to the Thai Minister on the same point. As I am sure you will appreciate, we shall have to be careful to see that the Thai Government should not be allowed to claim that they are fulfilling their side of any agreement with the United States Government merely by promising to you the tin and rubber which would in any case have been sold to us, without making any inroads on the Japanese allocation. As it stands, your present request for the entire production of the two commodities protects the position but I imagine that at a later stage there may have to be some modification of this position.
[Here follows comment on licenses for certain goods sent to Hong Kong.]
Yours sincerely,