740.0011 P. W./393: Telegram
The Minister in Thailand (Grant) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 7—11:45 a.m.]
400. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in a conversation with me today reiterated that so far no demands for military bases in Thailand have been made by Japan. I expressed the opinion that the Japanese have no intention of making any military move against Thailand at the present time, that they are playing a game of bluff with a view to keeping the Thai in a state of anxiety in order to get what they can in the way of economic concessions and further that I thought it would be helpful if the Thai Government would do some bluffing on its behalf by discreetly resisting some of these Japanese economic and diplomatic pressures. The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs then indicated that he was inclined to agree with me that there may be some bluff in the Japanese game here.
Referring to the promise made to me by the Prime Minister on July 17 as indicated in my telegram 352 [353], July 17, 9 p.m. that he would give careful consideration to the expressed desire of my Government to obtain all or as much as possible of Thai rubber and tin production, I made inquiry as to the status of the negotiations regarding rubber. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs replied that his Government was still awaiting the Japanese reply to the Thai proposal that rubber be thrown on the open market.
The Japanese Minister Futami, personal friend of Matsuoka, will be replaced within the next few months by a former Vice Minister for Colonies who is now serving in Manchukuo, according to information furnished confidentially by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.