Thailand, a long-standing defence partner of the United States and ASEAN’s second largest economy, occupies a geostrategically important position as a land bridge between China and maritime Southeast Asia. This book, based on extensive original research, explores the current state of US-Thai relations, paying particular attention to how the United States is perceived by a wide range of people in the Thai defence establishment and highlighting the importance of historical memory. The book outlines how the US-Thai relationship has been complicated and at times turbulent, discusses how Thailand is deeply embedded in multi-faceted relationships with many Asian states, not just China, and examines how far the United States is blind to the complexities of Asian international relations by focusing too much on China. The book concludes by assessing how US-Thai relations are likely to develop going forward. Additionally, the work contributes to alliance theory by showing how domestic politics shapes memory, which in turn affects perceptions of other states.

Examines the entire post-World War II period, but concentrates on the years 1965-1976 (time of the Vietnamese Conflict). Asks what led Thailand to identify its interests with the U.S.

The development of the Thai-American alliance from 1947 to 1958 dramatically transformed both countries' involvement in Southeast Asia. Bounded by two important political events in Thailand, an army coup in 1947 and the military's assumption of complete control of government in 1958, the period witnessed both the entrenchment of authoritarian military government in Thailand and a revolution in U.S.-Thai relations. During these years the modern Thai political system emerged, and the United States established its interest and influence in mainland Southeast Asian affairs. The developments of the period made possible American's later, more extensive, involvement in Indochina. A Special Relationship provides the most comprehensive analysis of this critical founding period of the Thai-American alliance. It reveals surprising new information on joint covert operations in Indochina, American support for suppression of government opponents, and CIA involvement in Thai domestic politics.

Since the Thai military seized power in May 2014, Thailand's relations with the United States have significantly deteriorated, while the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has quickly emerged as the Kingdom's closest Great Power partner. U.S.-Thai defence cooperation has been the main casualty of the coup, and represents a setback for the Obama administration's pivot or rebalance towards Asia, the success of which depends in large part on strengthening bilateral alliances and increasing America's presence in Asia. Even before the coup, the U.S.-Thai alliance was facing difficulties. Since Washington announced the pivot in 2011, neither civilian nor military leaders in Thailand have evinced genuine support for the strategy. Many Thais consider the pivot to be aimed at containing China, and that Thailand's association with the strategy would be detrimental to the country's positive relations with the PRC. Thailand does not perceive the PRC as a source of strategic instability; to the contrary, Thais overwhelmingly view China as a valuable economic and security partner. In contrast to U.S.-Thai relations, Sino-Thai relations have blossomed since the putsch. Beijing's hands off approach to Thailand's domestic political situation is much appreciated by the junta, and has allowed the two sides to focus on strengthening economic ties and defence cooperation. The United States has repeatedly called on the junta to hold new elections, and emphasized that relations cannot return to normal until civilian rule is restored. However, a return to democracy in Thailand is not in prospect any time soon. The rejection of the draft constitution in September 2015 means that the armed forces will retain political power until at least 2017 and conceivably beyond. As a result, U.S.-Thai relations will continue to experience strain while Sino-Thai cooperation strengthens.