BANGKOK: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson landed in Bangkok on Tuesday for talks with junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha, the highest-level American diplomatic visit since the Thai army grabbed power in a 2014 coup.
The one-day drop-in comes as Washington reboots its relationship with Thailand under President Donald Trump, whose administration has enraged rights groups by cosying up to strongmen around the globe.
The Thai army’s 2014 toppling of the civilian government pinched ties with Washington, who distanced itself from its oldest ally in Asia and trimmed back military aid.
But relations are on a better footing under Trump, with the US president extending an invitation to junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
The thaw also comes amid Washington’s growing concerns of rival superpower China’s clout in the region.
Beijing entices its smaller neighbors by offering massive investment decoupled from human rights concerns, which appeals to leaders weary of US pressure.
Thailand is a lynchpin country in China’s massive trade and infrastructure ‘One Belt, One Road’ strategy.
A US Embassy spokesperson said Tillerson would discuss regional flashpoints such as North Korea’s nuclear missile program and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
It was not immediately clear how firmly the former oilman would push the junta government on its crackdown on political rights.
The US wants Thailand to “emerge as a strengthened democracy that respects and guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms,” said embassy spokesperson Steve Castonguay.
Earlier in the week Susan Thornton, acting US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs, defended America’s reach out to the military regime, as pragmatism appears to outweigh principle in Trump’s foreign affairs agenda.
“They have a road map by which they’re going to work toward a restoration of constitutional government, democratic elections,” she said.
“It’s time to go back and encourage them.”
Tillerson’s visit comes on the heels of a regional forum in Manila, where the former ExxonMobil CEO hailed a UN measure to pass tough new sanctions on North Korea over its growing nuclear arsenal.
Trump has tried to browbeat Beijing — North Korea’s ally and biggest trade partner — into reining in the hermit state’s ballistic missile program.
The US has also turned to Southeast Asian nations to help isolate Pyongyang, though it failed to persuade the regional bloc to bar North Korea’s top envoy from last week’s forum.
Tillerson is also slated to pay respects to Thailand’s late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has been lying in state at the Grand Palace since his death in October 2016.
Later he will travel to the Malaysian capital.
Tillerson in Thailand, as US cosies up to oldest Asian ally
Tillerson in Thailand, as US cosies up to oldest Asian ally
Myanmar, Afghan hopeful scholars mourn UK study visa ban
- Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining university visas
- Britain’s travel block is “really painful” for Afghan women hoping to escape to an education abroad, said one female
YANGON, Myanmar: Aspiring students are lamenting Britain’s ban on education visas for their war-weary countries — dashing dreams of bettering themselves and their home nations.
Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining university visas, London announced this week, saying asylum applications by visiting students had “rocketed” nearly 500 percent from 2021 to 2025.
“It’s like the country is punishing the weak, the most vulnerable people,” said one woman from Myanmar.
She was preparing for a scholarship interview for a master’s in climate change finance when her plans were upended by Downing Street’s decree on Wednesday.
“I could not focus the whole morning,” the 28-year-old told AFP from Yangon, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons in a country riven by civil war since a 2021 military coup.
“I can’t picture my future.”
Like in much of the developed world, immigration has become a divisive issue in Britain.
Efforts to beat back arrivals mirror the sweeping travel bans issued by US President Donald Trump which have shut out citizens of Myanmar, Sudan and Afghanistan.
Since the chaotic military withdrawal of Britain, the United States and other NATO nations in 2021, Afghanistan has been ruled by a resurgent Taliban government which has banned women over age 12 from attending school.
Britain’s travel block is “really painful” for Afghan women hoping to escape to an education abroad, said one female child social worker in Ghazni province, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
She has now canceled her plans to study for a master’s in both the US and the UK.
“Now I am trying to be hopeful, but I think it would also be a mistake,” said the 27-year-old.
In the summer of 2024, Arefa Mohammadi fled to neighboring Pakistan, living in limbo as she applied to universities.
She got an offer to study public health in England but now cannot accept it.
“It was truly shocking for me,” said the 24-year-old.
“This situation put me in a place where I haven’t any goals, because all my goals and all my futures are unpredictable.”
- ‘Cruel and short-sighted’ -
In Kabul, a 39-year-old man faces similar heartbreak.
He was accepted to study specialist subjects related to water management at three universities in England and Scotland.
“When I was a child I witnessed several challenges like flash floods, water scarcity, environmental neglect, inefficient irrigation systems,” he said, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons. “To address these challenges I made my application.”
“I hoped to acquire modern knowledge. It’s impossible to acquire in Afghanistan,” he added.
Some 33 million people in the country face severe water shortages, aid agencies say, a result of compounding multi-year droughts, climate change and infrastructure battered by decades of war.
Britain’s Labour government made the decision to curb visas as the right-wing Reform UK party surges in opinion polls with its hard-line stance against immigration.
The UK Home Office said almost 135,000 asylum seekers had entered the country through legal routes since 2021.
Activist organization Burma Campaign UK called the visa ban “exceptionally cruel and shortsighted.”
“The opportunity to come to the UK to study is life-changing for the individual student but also an investment in the future of Myanmar,” said program director Zoya Phan in a statement.
One exiled Myanmar journalist has been living over the border in Thailand after escaping the military rule which has clamped down on press freedoms.
“When the military coup happened I was just 22, so I had a lot of dreams,” she said. “But over the past five years there have been a lot of struggles — I couldn’t complete my dreams.”
Every year since the junta takeover she applied for further education to buoy her spirits.
But she received an email Thursday morning canceling her place to study for a master’s at a London university.
“Everything is gone,” she said. “My UK dream is all disappeared.”
