United States-Thailand Communiqué on Strategic Alliance and Partnership

The following statement was signed by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken of the United States and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai of the Kingdom of Thailand in Bangkok, Thailand on July 10, 2022.

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Recognizing Our History and Building Our Future 

1. As the United States and Thailand celebrate our 190^th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2023, we recognize two centuries of special trust and collaboration built through the 1833 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, our treaty alliance established through the 1954 Manila Pact, the 1962 Thanat-Rusk Communiqué, and the 1966 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations. Forged by shared history and common values, and anchored by our collective commitment to build resilient, inclusive democracies and advance human rights, our two countries reaffirm our commitment to our strategic alliance as sovereign equals, with steadfast commitment to the principles of mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual interest.

2. We are committed to reinforcing and enhancing our strategic alliance and partnership. This encompasses economic revitalization; defense, security, and intelligence cooperation; public health advancement; people-to-people collaboration; and innovative environmental and sustainable solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Our Pledge to Pursue Joint Strategic Goals

3. The long-term goals of the United States and Thailand are to expand and strengthen our strategic partnership to prevent conflict, preserve a peaceful security environment, promote free expression and civil and political rights, and achieve inclusive, sustainable, and balanced economic prosperity. We pursue these goals as equals, for the benefit of the American and Thai people, as well as for the rest of the Indo-Pacific populations and the wider world. We seek to work together to ensure the resilience of critical supply chains, so that both our nations have access to the goods and resources required to preserve our safety, security, and prosperity. We intend to continue to promote international cooperation to combat criminal threats, leveraging our 1986 Treaty on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and 1983 Treaty relating to Extradition as we strive to make our nations, the region, and the world safer from criminal networks.

4. As we face new challenges, we engage shoulder-to-shoulder a broadening set of cooperation. We seek to strengthen our collaboration to advance global health security, respond to future public health crises, and enhance, regional and global health, including emphasizing transparency and access to information about emerging disease threats. We will be deepening our cooperation on energy, developing the resources of tomorrow as we promote innovation and expand the use and generation of renewable power. We plan to reinvigorate our bilateral dialogues on science, technology, and space while developing new mechanisms to promote innovation and the safe and responsible use of emerging technologies.

High-Level Strategic Dialogue

5. In addition to frequent, high-level engagement, we intend to anchor our consultations and review progress with an annual senior-level United States-Thailand Strategic and Defense Dialogue. Bringing together multiple agencies from across our respective governments, the Strategic and Defense Dialogue will include a broad array of themes, including trade and investment cooperation, defense and security cooperation, democracy and human rights, humanitarian assistance, regional stability, climate action, supply chain resiliency, infrastructure and communication connectivity, and education and cultural exchanges.

Our Shared Commitment to Strategic Cooperation to Advance the Peace, Sustainability, and Prosperity of our Two Countries and the Indo-Pacific Region 

As part of our strategic alliance and partnership, the United States and Thailand seek to promote closer cooperation in the following areas:

6. Adhere to Core Principles: Promoting democratic development in an open and transparent way is essential to implementing our shared vision of an Indo-Pacific that is free, open, inclusive and sustainable. Strong democratic institutions, independent civil society, and free and fair elections are central to this vision, allowing our respective societies to reach their full potential. We intend to strengthen our shared values and ideals, including the rule of law; protecting human rights and human security; adhering to humanitarian principles, including non-refoulement; promoting sustainable development; and upholding resilient democracies. We share common aspirations in promoting open and inclusive societies in all aspects, especially among vulnerable and marginalized groups such as women, children, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ persons, and various groups of migrants, among others, as well as in combating all forms of human trafficking. This includes cooperation on human capital development to promote inclusive, balanced, and sustainable growth. We also reaffirm our commitment to working together to promote and protect the rights of vulnerable groups in line with our relevant international obligations.

7. Revitalize Our Economies: The United States and Thailand seek to build back from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic via increased commercial and economic cooperation to advance inclusive, sustainable, and balanced growth, including through the concepts outlined in the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. By strengthening our mutual supply chains, promoting a business-conducive ecosystem, and exploring capacity-building via innovative technology transfer on voluntary and mutually agreed terms, we will increase competitiveness and opportunities for jobs and sustainable growth in both countries. We also seek to advance our cooperation on sustainable and smart agriculture, increasing capacities of farmers, as well as strengthening global food security. We plan to work together to enhance supply chain resilience, particularly for critical goods, and coordinate to avoid disruptions of trade in critically important products. The United States and Thailand also plan to collaborate on digital economy to support digital transformation and promote innovation for economic recovery and advancement, including in developing secure and stable digital infrastructure, enhancing the digital skills of our workforces, and the digitization of our enterprises and start-ups, developing smart cities and policies promoting digital trade. The recognition and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and cooperation on IPR enforcement are vital elements for enhanced trade. Beyond our borders, our two nations intend to continue to explore opportunities to promote high-quality, sustainable and resilient transport, energy and digital infrastructure and connectivity in the Mekong sub-region and the broader Indo-Pacific, through mechanisms including joint financing, private sector collaboration, and cooperation with third countries.

8. Address the Threat of Climate Change: Recognizing the global risks posed by climate change, the United States and Thailand are committed to continuing to play leading roles in addressing environmental challenges as we raise our climate ambitions and strive to advance toward net-zero targets. We plan to work together to reduce emissions, enhance climate adaptation and resilience, and climate-related goals. Utilizing climate-friendly policies to drive economic growth and accelerate energy transition, we intend to leverage new technologies that harness clean and renewable energy, including solar power; carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS); climate smart agriculture; e-mobility, including electric vehicle (EV) technology; smart grids; and efficient power storage. We plan to cooperate to make Thailand a center for innovation and climate change leadership in the region. We also plan to work together to promote environmental protection and to strengthen water security and climate resilience across the Mekong River basin. Our two countries seek to collaborate on catalyzing investment in green technology, facilitating private sector partnership and increasing Thailand’s capacity in critical energy supply chains, to support its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) as well as its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

9. Advance Our Treaty Alliance: We reaffirm the foundations of the U.S.-Thai treaty alliance and our commitment to address 21st Century security challenges, as enunciated in the 2020 Joint Vision Statement for the U.S.-Thai Defense Alliance. We seek to facilitate a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region through enhanced security and defense cooperation and capabilities, based on mutual respect, shared democratic values, and common interests. We recognize the important role of the United States and Thailand cooperation in promoting regional peace and security. Our sustained security cooperation, including human capital development, education and training, capacity-building, interoperability, and modernization of defense and security institutions serves the interest of each of our countries and the wider region. The United States reaffirms its strong commitment to security cooperation with Thailand and its support for long-term modernization, education and training, maritime security, cyber and space domain initiatives, and humanitarian and disaster relief capabilities.

10. Expand and Reinforce Law Enforcement Cooperation: As part of our strategic alliance, we are committed to expanding our bilateral, sub-regional, and regional cooperation in law enforcement, including strengthening border security; fighting transnational crime, including drug smuggling and wildlife and timber trafficking; and combatting terrorism and money laundering. The United States and Thailand commit to expanding our cooperation against human trafficking and the exploitation of children, by increasing our joint efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers, including the officials who protect them, as well as to strengthen protections for migrant workers. The two sides commit to making full use of the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok to forge networks and enhance coordination among law enforcement officials in the region.

11. Deepen Cybersecurity and Technology Collaboration: We plan to expand our existing cooperation on cybersecurity to ensure that our networks are secure, criminals are prosecuted, and Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) is protected. The United States is committed to continuing to support Thailand in developing its National Cyber Incident Response Plan, National Computer Emergency Response Team (National CERT), National Coordination Center, and information-sharing capability with critical infrastructure sectors. We intend to further strengthen our engagement to promote the cooperation of law enforcement and civilian authorities in preventing and prosecuting cybercrimes and plan to work together and with partner countries in the sub-region, region, and beyond to investigate and bring cyber criminals to justice.

12. Promote Regional Cooperation: The United States and Thailand recognize the significance of Southeast Asia to the security architecture and sustainable development of the entire region and beyond. We underscore our unwavering commitment to ensure a peaceful and stable regional environment that will contribute to socio-economic recovery, balanced growth and sustainable development in the sub-region and Southeast Asian region. Together, we intend to strengthen our collaboration to better respond to regional and global challenges. We intend to collaborate to address humanitarian crises confronting the region. We reaffirm our support for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) centrality and the vital role that ASEAN plays in addressing traditional and non-traditional security challenges through ASEAN-led mechanisms, including the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), guided by the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). We also highlight the implementation of the Plan of Action of the Mekong-U.S. Partnership in which the United States and Thailand are members and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Master Plan of which Thailand is a founding member and the United States is a development partner. We also plan to continue to cooperate in regional economic fora such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), where we seek to leverage our 2022 and 2023 leadership roles to promote free, fair, and open trade and investment while advancing inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

13. Advance Global Health: The United States and Thailand plan to continue our close and long-standing public health cooperation to mitigate emerging health challenges and promote commercial and investment engagement. For over 60 years, we have worked together to address critical issues affecting public health through medical research, vaccine and therapeutic development, and public health cooperation led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, and other relevant health agencies in both countries. The innovations we have achieved by working together have had global reach, and we plan to continue our cooperation to advance sub-regional and regional health security and improve health outcomes for people around the world. With the continued emergence of new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, we seek to enhance our close collaboration on pandemic preparedness and response to reinforce a resilient global health recovery.

14. Promote People-to-People Ties: Our close and extensive people-to-people exchanges have long provided a strong foundation in our countries’ relations. Through American Spaces in Thailand and Thailand’s outreach across the United States, we plan to work together to help ensure that people in our respective countries understand one another and are positioned to carry our partnership into its third century. We seek to bring together our students, entrepreneurs, professionals, and people from all walks of life to strengthen people-to-people ties through the exchanges and educational and professional development programs, including those in the English language and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), undertaken jointly in the United States and Thailand, as well as promoting the Thai studies programs in the United States. The newly established Thailand-United States Alumni Association will bring together exchange alumni from across Thailand to promote our shared values and goals.

15. Increase Our Diplomatic Capabilities: In recognition of our expanding relationship, the United States and Thailand are committed to further strengthening the alliance and partnership through enhanced coordination and regular exchange of official visits. We intend to renew and enhance our mutual support for our respective diplomatic missions to reflect our expanded relationship.