Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, East Asia and the Pacific, Volume XII, Part 2

State-JCS Meetings, lot 61 D 417

No. 428
Memorandum on the Substance of Discussions at a Department of State-Joint Chiefs of Staff Meeting¹

top secret

Washington, June 16, 1954—3:30 p.m.

[Here follows a list of persons (19) present. The Joint Chiefs present were General Twining and Admiral Carney; Deputy Under Secretary Murphy headed the Department of State contingent.]

Mr. Murphy explained to the Joint Chiefs that Ambassador Donovan was pleased to be present at the invitation of the JCS to discuss additional aid to Thailand.

After the usual amenities, Ambassador Donovan reviewed the plan developed by himself and General Gillmore, Chief of MAAG, Bangkok.

General Twining, on behalf of the JCS, indicated that the JCS approved the recommendation that the Thai armed forces be increased from 57,000 to 90,000; that the Saraburi-Ban Phai highway be constructed if FOA can finance it; and that an air base be constructed probably at Korat if a means could be found to finance it.

There was further discussion concerning the stationing of an air wing in Thailand at the proposed air base. General Twining indicated that the Joint Chiefs were opposed to this project at this time. Discussion ensued in which Ambassador Donovan pointed out that it would be necessary to have the wing stationed somewhere. General Twining agreed, but insisted that there were strong arguments against stationing it in Thailand. He added that the Joint Chiefs had not taken this decision lightly. He stressed that the proposal was political rather than military and that it was militarily unjustified because you would need the same amount of logistic support for one wing in Thailand as you now need for two or more somewhere else.

Ambassador Donovan noted that there was some question whether the Thais could support additional aid. He referred to the forthcoming visit of the Thai Chief of Staff.² It was brought out that the date of the Chief of Staff’s arrival had not yet been definitely set. Brief reference was also made to General Gillmore’s role, which was elaborated by Mr. Landon.

Ambassador Donovan expressed interest in the Five-Power conference and the relationship thereto of Thailand and the Philippines. Admiral Carney reviewed his talks with General Vargas.³ He had briefed General Vargas in a very general way on the conference, and he intended to do the same in more detail with the Thai Chief of Staff when the latter arrived.

At the request of the Joint Chiefs, Ambassador Donovan gave a brief review of the situation along the Thai-Laotian/Burmese border. He stated that there were no anti-communist Chinese forces in northern Thailand territory. The Ambassador also reviewed the situation in Burma and his conversations with the British Ambassador to Burma. He also outlined his conversations with the Netherlands Ambassador regarding Indonesia.

1. The source text bears the notation: “State Draft. Not cleared with any of participants.”
2. The Thai Military Mission, headed by Gen. Sarit Thanarat, Deputy Minister of Defense and Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army, arrived in Washington on July 2.
3. Regarding conversations between Gen. Jesus Vargas, Chief of Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, and representatives of the Department of Defense, held in Washington on June 16 and 17, see Document 368.