811.20 (D) Regulations/3687: Telegram
The Minister in Thailand (Grant) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 18—6:30 a.m.]
353. The Department’s 76, July 12, 9 p.m. and my 330, July 3, 2 p.m. In the course of a conversation today with the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Luang Pibul in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, I outlined the attitude of the American Government in regard to the purchase of tin and rubber and economic assistance for Thailand as indicated in the Department’s telegram. I emphasized that my Government desires to purchase [Page 217] the largest amounts of tin and rubber that Thailand can allocate and at the same time desires the Thai Government to submit as soon as possible a mailing list of American products which Thailand desires to import. The Prime Minister replied that he would give very careful consideration to our request for rubber and tin although he said he had already agreed to furnish Japan with 30,000 tons of the 48,000 tons of rubber available annually in payment of armament and munitions which Thailand hopes to receive from Japan. He said tin was subject to an open market. He promised soon the list of American commodities which Thailand desires to import. I explained to the Prime Minister that the recent withholding of certain exports to Thailand was not in any way directed at Thailand but was simply a phase of our defense program, that my Government was friendly to Thailand and was desirous of helping Thailand retain her complete independence. The Prime Minister expressed his sincere appreciation of the attitude of the American Government and added that he continued to look to his friends the United States and [Great Britain?] in these difficult times.
We then discussed the general situation in the course of which I elicited from the Prime Minister a number of comments regarding the present relationship between Thailand and Japan. The Prime Minister is inclined to regard the fall of the Japanese Cabinet yesterday as a good sign for Thailand and this area although he had received no details so far. He said the recent “stiffening attitude” of the United States and the ability of the British to carry on were factors in easing the tense situation in the Far East for the present. He does not expect the Japanese to move south at the moment although he still believes that Japan will take over the complete control of Indochina politically, militarily and economically. In this connection he said Japan had promised Thailand not to interfere with the so-called former Thai territories in Indochina, namely Laos and Cambodia, not ceded at Tokyo but he indicated he did not put much faith in this promise and in response to my inquiry as to what Thailand would do in the event Japan took over these territories he said “we could do nothing.”
The Prime Minister denied in response to an inquiry that Japan had demanded from Thailand any concessions including military bases as the result of the Tokyo mediation of the Thai-Indochina dispute but he added “the Japanese are constantly reminding me of what they accomplished for Thailand and hinting that they will expect something in return.” He said that the Japanese had suggested that Ichang manufacture spare aeroplane parts that would fit Japanese planes but he had not agreed. I suggested that the proposed establishment of a Japanese Embassy in Bangkok which the [Page 218] Thai have accepted in principle as indicated in my telegram 34699 was designed to give Japan a dominant position here from a diplomatic standpoint. The Prime Minister replied that he could not refuse the offer implying that the Thai Government had withstood this pressure as long as it could. The Prime Minister reiterated his belief that there will be a negotiated peace in Europe and expressed the opinion the Germans would crush the Russians ultimately.
The conversation was most cordial throughout and the Prime Minister seemed to be particularly pleased when I gave him assurance of the friendly attitude of the United States toward Thailand.
- July 16, 1 p.m., not printed.↩