740.00119 PW/8–2245: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
7123. For your information Dept orally suggested to British Embassy August 18 that they should advise Thai Regent to send representatives [Page 1292] to Kandy to deal with Lord Mountbatten on military matters and necessary ad hoc arrangements; that Dept considers it inappropriate that longer-range political matters between the British and Thai Governments should be dealt with through an Allied Command or through a political adviser attached to an Allied Commander; and that it would be helpful if the British notified the Thai Regent through Thai Minister Seni at Washington as to what procedure they wished to follow in discussing such political problems.
The Thai Minister informed us22 of the Thai Regent’s offer to aid in disarming the Japanese and in caring for Allied POWs.
The British Embassy informed us that Lord Mountbatten was authorized to deal with the Thai military pragmatically depending on the extent of their cooperation.
See Dept’s radio bulletin of August 20, statement by the Secretary in regard to Thailand.23