Office of the Historian

457. Memorandum of Conversation0

Washington, July 12, 1962.

SUBJECT

  • Call of Thai Ambassador on the President

PARTICIPANTS

  • The President
  • H. E. Visutr Arthayukti, Ambassador of Thailand
  • Mr. H. L. T. Koren, Director, Office of Southeast Asian Affairs

The Ambassador presented a letter from Prime Minister Sarit to the President which the President read and then noted his agreement on the necessity for our two countries to work together toward common goals.1 The President said he did not feel that the letter called for an answer, but asked the Ambassador to express his appreciation to the Prime Minister.

The President said he felt that Thailand had handled the difficult problem presented by the World Court decision very well and thought that Thai acceptance of the decision should help to expand acceptance of the principles of a world rule of law. The Ambassador noted that the Government had worked very hard to settle this internal affair in the best way possible. The President agreed that this method was far better than resorting to firing guns, and again complimented the Thai Government and Prime Minister on their decision.

The President referred to the U.S. logistic support program proposed for Thailand and said he thought this intensive effort would mean a lot to Thailand both economically and militarily. The Ambassador expressed appreciation for the State Department’s assistance in arranging for the important loans for irrigation projects in north Thailand.

The President spoke of the recent redeployment of some of the Marines from Udorn. He said we were watching the progress at Geneva, and further phase-outs would occur if developments over the Accords so warranted. Marines withdrawn could, of course, be returned on short notice if necessary.

The Ambassador thought that the formation of the Lao coalition government would improve the situation. The President replied that he looked forward to seeing Souvanna Phouma and making our views known to him during his forthcoming visit here. The President said that the task in Laos was not an easy one, but we were going to stay with it and make it work. In this connection he appreciated the efforts of the Thai Government and the Prime Minister to assist us in the Lao tasks.

  1. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Thailand, Vol. III, 7/16/62–7/31/62. Secret. Drafted by Koren.↩
  2. See footnote 4, Document 456.↩