383. Letter From the Ambassador to Thailand (Unger) to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (Bundy)1
Dear Bill:
Since my second try with [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] before going to Wellington I have had no further discussions with him, [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] about political party organization or possible contributions from us.2 I have considered that his uneasiness [Page 850] when I raised this subject made it clear that he was far from settled in his own mind about taking any help from us and perhaps also unsure about what role [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] would be playing. I also felt that my lengthy conversations with [less than 1 line of source text not declassified], as well as some that Bob Jantzen and others have had with other individuals, have made it clear that there is not as yet even an understanding about who the main figures are to be in any government party that may be formed, and we surely have no certainty of united action among such figures as [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] on one hand and [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] on the other.
For all these reasons I think we should take no initiatives whatsoever ourselves to raise the matter of financial support and consider it definitely on ice unless and until the Thais themselves make a new move.
This is not to say that we should not use what resources and connections we have quietly to stimulate serious thought about party organization and the effective conduct of an election campaign, and to this end we will be taking various steps here, [1 line of source text not declassified]. On this same line, this morning I mentioned in passing to [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] that while he was in the States he might possibly find it interesting to have a discussion with one or several academic or practical political types who could talk to him informally about how campaigns are run and parties organized. (I carefully refrained from any relating of this to the assistance question.) [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] sounded interested but [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] quickly chimed in and said this was not a good idea and [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] should not be thus involved. He, however, would be interested if an opportunity was offered. While I think [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] has serious limitations as a practical politician, you might want to have a word with John Roche and/or Dick Scammon and see if anyone has any ideas as to what might be engineered to involve [less than 1 line of source text not declassified]. (Thanat, incidentally, told me over last weekend that he has concluded, at least thus far, that politics is not for him and he has never been mentioned as a possible participant in any government party arrangement.)
Yours,
- Source: Department of State, INR/IL Historical Files, Thailand 1968. Secret; Eyes Only. Copies were sent to Godley and Spear.↩
- Unger talked briefly with [text not declassified] on March 25. Unger stated that the elections were critically important and that [text not declassified] was in a unique position to bring about free elections. [text not declassified] replied, “a leader must have lots of money which he did not have.” Unger answered, “somewhat elliptically because of Thanatʼs presence, that there might be ways to help, but quietly.” Unger was sure Thanat had not overheard the discussion. [text not declassified] and Unger talked again on March 28. [text not declassified] stated that he did not want to be under anyoneʼs “control” and Unger assured him that was the last thing the United States wanted. They agreed to talk further. (Memoranda of conversations, March 25 and 28; ibid., Central Files, POL 14 THAI)↩