On 28-29 February 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence co-hosted the 9th Strategic Dialogue between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State, the 8th Defense Strategic Talks between the Ministry of Defence and the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Thailand-U.S. Strategic and Defense Dialogue (2+2), which was co-chaired by H.E. Mrs. Eksiri Pintaruchi, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and General Sanitchanog Sangkachantra, Permanent Secretary for Defence, together with The Honorable Daniel Kritenbrink, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Honorable Jedidiah P. Royal, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.

The meeting reaffirmed the long-standing Thailand-U.S. alliance based on the shared values and mutual benefits. The meeting deliberated on advancing multi-faceted cooperation, in line with the Thailand-U.S. Communiqué on Strategic Alliance and Partnership, ranging from defense and security, economic partnership, climate actions, health security, education, science and technology, people-to-people ties, to collaborations at the regional and multilateral levels.

To further strengthen the deep ties, both sides recognized the importance of increasing high-level engagements and agreed to explore the possibility to establish the Strategic and Defense Dialogue (2+2) at the ministerial level. Both sides would work together to promote more exchanges of high-level visits, following the recent visits of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara to the U.S. earlier this month, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Thailand in January. The Thai side looked forward to welcoming the visit of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in March 2024. The U.S. side also conveyed the invitation from the U.S. Secretary of Defense for Minister of Defence Sutin Klungsang to visit the U.S.

On the defense and security cooperation, the meeting appreciated the steady progress in the long-standing defense alliance that has been the cornerstone of Thai-U.S. relations, highlighting the currently ongoing 43rd Cobra Gold exercise, where the light salvage operation of HTMS Sukhothai is also being undertaken. The U.S. would provide USD 25 million grant support to promote Thailand’s defense modernization and professionalization.

Both sides will continue working to establish a Security Dialogue between the National Security Councils of both countries and agreed to enhance partnership in addressing the evolving and non-traditional challenges, such as cyber security and transnational crime, and to increase cooperation on intelligence and information sharing as well as capacity building for relevant Thai law enforcement agencies. The meeting also agreed to establish a Strategic Law Enforcement Partnership Dialogue at the working level to increase collective efforts to effectively respond to transnational crimes. Both sides would promote more cooperation on cyber security, including between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State towards establishing a Cyber Security Dialogue to promote cyber and digital cooperation and address challenges. The U.S. also welcomed the Thai side’s ongoing internal process to join the U.S.’ initiative of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.

The meeting underscored both countries’ commitment to upholding the shared values of democracy, human rights, human security, the long tradition of humanitarianism. The U.S. welcomed the upcoming Thai delegation to Washington in March to enhance cooperation on combating human trafficking and agreed to collaborate further through enhanced capacity-building and intelligence-sharing. The Thai side also sought the U.S.’ support for Thailand’s candidature for the UN Human Rights Council for the term 2025-2027.

On the economic front, both sides committed to accelerating economic partnership, both bilaterally and through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), in sectors of mutual interest, such as green transition, digital economy, EV and semiconductors. The meeting discussed Thailand’s vision for regional connectivity and commitment to promoting supply chain resilience, including holding a supply chain workshop in support of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on Supply Chain Resilience and IPEF Agreement relating to Supply Chain Resilience.

The meeting also discussed advancing cooperation on climate actions and clean energy, including through the Net-Zero World Initiative and cooperative projects with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency as well as the Thai-U.S. Energy Policy Dialogue that Thailand will host in April 2024.

Both sides also highlighted the long history of health cooperation and its contribution to addressing health challenges in both countries and the region, with hundreds of millions of people having benefited from Thailand – U.S. joint work in addressing malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and HIV/AIDS. The meeting agreed to further strengthen partnership to advance public health capacity and global health security. The Thai side is under the process of favorably considering to becoming the U.S. Global Health Security Intensive Support Partner. The U.S. side would also provide support to Thailand’s vision as a medical tourism hub.

Recognizing people-to-people ties as the strong foundation of the bilateral ties, both sides discussed ways and means to promote greater exchanges and connection between people. The meeting discussed facilitating more travels and exchanges. The Thai side supported the U.S.-initiated International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP), connecting universities in the two countries. Both sides also welcomed the establishment of sister cities between Chiang Mai and Austin, Texas, bringing both peoples closer together.

On this occasion, both sides exchanged perspectives on the current global and regional security landscape, including the situation in Myanmar, South China Sea, the Middle-East, and Ukraine. The Thai side also thanked the U.S. support in securing the Thai hostages and hope to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. The meeting also elaborated on advancing cooperation at the regional and sub-regional levels, including through the existing mechanisms, especially the ASEAN–U.S. cooperation, ACMECS, the Mekong-U.S. Partnership (MUSP), and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). The meeting welcomed that the virtual IPEF Ministerial Meeting will be held in Bangkok during the upcoming visit of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to Thailand in March.

The Strategic and Defense Dialogue presents opportunity for both sides to take stock and move forward the multi-dimensional cooperation in a comprehensive and effective manner.

The inaugural Strategic and Defense Dialogue was held in Washington in May 2022.