509. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, October 31, 19561
SUBJECT
- Prince Wan’s call on the Secretary
PARTICIPANTS
- Prince Wan, Foreign Minister of Thailand
- Mr. Pote Sarasin, Thai Ambassador
- The Secretary
- Mr. Walter S. Robertson
- Mr. Kenneth T. Young, Jr.
Prince Wan came in to see the Secretary today at 11:00 by appointment. Prince Wan began by thanking the Secretary for United States support for his candidacy for President of the UN General Assembly. The Secretary replied that he was delighted to support Prince Wan and that his election seemed certain.
Prince Wan asked the Secretary about the latest developments on the Middle East.2 After pointing out the deeply critical nature of the situation and the possibility that none of the countries involved really desired war, the Secretary said that everything must be done to keep the hostilities from spreading in the Middle East and developing into a general conflagration. Therefore the U.S. was considering a special session of the UN General Assembly to focus world public opinion on this grave issue. In response to the Secretary’s question as to his opinion of such a move, Prince Wan said that he did not have all the information available to give an answer but thought such a proposal would have to take into consideration the British and French position.
The Secretary then asked Prince Wan about the situation in Southeast Asia. He replied that there were favorable developments in Burma, relations with Malaya were good, and Cambodia presented no real danger although it would go through a series of governmental changes. Laos is the danger spot, Prince Wan said, because the government is so weak. The leaders give correct and reassuring statements to the Thai Government but seem weak and unsure in knowing [Page 907] what to do. The outlook in Laos would turn on what happens after Prince Petsarath3 returns to Laos. Mr. Robertson asked Prince Wan for his opinion of Prince Petsarath. Prince Wan replied that the Thai are in contact with him and believe that he is not hostile to Thailand or to the U.S. However, the Thais are not sure whether he is relatively more or less unreliable than some other Lao leaders. Mr. Robertson mentioned that Lim Yew Hock had done an excellent job against subversion in Singapore and that in Laos the Pathet Lao were clearly nothing but creatures of the Viet Minh.
The Secretary pointed out that the U.S. considers Thailand the major prop in Southeast Asia and looks to Thailand to take steps in the area which often the U.S. cannot itself follow, although the U.S. could provide assistance of many kinds. The Secretary urged that the Thai Government follow this role where it could. Prince Wan said that his government appreciated this position and would like to do what it could to help its neighbors but lacked resources. He hoped that the U.S. would consider providing Laos with assistance indirectly through Thailand.
As for Thailand, Prince Wan said there were three matters under discussion with U.S. authorities in Bangkok which he wished to mention to the Secretary. First, there was the question of the disposal of U.S. surplus rice. Mr. Robertson told Prince Wan that our policy was to work this out in consultation ahead of time with Thailand and to do everything possible not to disturb the Thai position. Prince Wan said that his government understood and agreed with our policy but hoped that they could have more information and statistics on the problem, a point which he did not elaborate. Secondly, Prince Wan referred again to the possibility of indirect aid from the U.S. to Laos through Thailand without giving any concrete suggestions. The Secretary replied that this might be something we could agree on in principle but until concrete measures could be analyzed and worked out he would prefer not to express any judgment. Thirdly, Prince Wan mentioned the Prime Minister’s great interest in U.S. assistance for low cost housing. Mr. Robertson said that the Prime Minister’s project was being given full and urgent consideration here in Washington. The Secretary asked Prince Wan what kind of housing was involved but the latter did not know. The Secretary pointed out, based on his visits there, that a slum clearance program in Bangkok would seem to him a worthy project which should do a lot of good and have a real impact, but that here again all would depend on working out the details.
Finally, the Secretary said that developments in Eastern Europe might have a great effect in Asia because the revelations by communists [Page 908] themselves in the satellites were showing that after ten or more years communist conditions are very bad and the people want a change. He recommended to Prince Wan that he read the Gomulka speech4 and asked that a copy be made available to His Highness which was done later in the day.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.92/10–3156. Confidential. Drafted by Young.↩
- Reference is to the Suez Canal crisis.↩
- Prince Petsarath, former Prime Minister of Laos then resident in Thailand.↩
- For text of the speech by Wladyslaw Gomulka, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers Party, to a mass meeting in Warsaw, October 24, 1956, see Documents (R.I.I.A.) for 1956, pp. 447–451.↩