Amid Protests, U.S. Begins Training Thai Coup Leader's Milit

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The U.S. began a 12-day annual, multinational Cobra Gold military exercise on Monday (February 9), despite the biggest pro-democracy protest in months displaying coup leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha as a gigantic faux Teletubby authoritarian.

In a sign of disapproval against the coup, Washington scaled-down Cobra Gold, its biggest military exercise in the Asia-Pacific, and this year sent about 3,600 U.S. troops instead of last year's 4,300.

"The large-scale, live-fire exercise associated w/ amphibious landing was cancelled," American Embassy charge d'affaires W. Patrick Murphy tweeted on Tuesday (February 10).

Other lethal exercises will be included.

A "non-combatant evacuation" from Thailand's tourist-packed Pattaya beach near Bangkok is also scheduled, plus a "field training exercise" involving troops in various formations.

Thailand is a key non-NATO ally of the U.S. in Southeast Asia.

Gen. Prayuth staged a bloodless coup on May 22, toppling a popularly elected prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

In response, Washington suspended a token $4.7 million in security aid to Bangkok and other training, but the two countries have emphasized the need to maintain close relations.

Despite those concerns -- and fresh anti-coup protests by students in Bangkok during the weekend -- the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) will be training Thailand's military from Monday (February 9) to February 20.

"We can't deny that this period is a challenging one, and has necessitated a modified Cobra Gold, as Thailand manages its return to democracy," U.S. charge d'affaires Murphy told the opening ceremony in Nakhon Nayok on Monday (February 9).

"Thailand is a valued friend and ally," U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters in Washington on Thursday (February 5).

"We will continue cooperation on issues that matter to the security and well-being of our country and theirs as well," Ms. Harf said.

Cobra Gold began in 1982 as bilateral training by the U.S. and Thailand.

It has expanded to this year's 24 nations including South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia plus other mostly Pacific countries.

China will join non-combat events designed for humanitarian assistance.

In Bangkok meanwhile the mood is not upbeat.

"The most joyless, soulless war games in history," the Bangkok Post said on Sunday (February 8), describing the mood on both sides.

During the past two weeks, Gen. Prayuth and his regime expressed displeasure at the U.S. State Department and American Embassy for their repeated criticism of his martial law regime and lack of elections.

Some Thai and foreign analysts said Washington may be worried about Bangkok moving too close to Beijing, and thus did not cancel Cobra Gold because the would severely disrupt U.S.-Thai relations.

Cobra Gold 2015 coincides with China's offer to Thailand to hold their own bilateral war games.

"We agreed to increase joint military exercises between Thailand's air force and China's air force, and to increase overall military cooperation over the next three to five years," Thai Defense Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters after Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan ended a two-day visit to Bangkok.

The two countries also agreed on Friday (February 6) to share more intelligence information, and jointly tackle cross-border crime and drug syndicates.

"China will not intervene in Thailand's politics but will give political support and help maintain relationships at all levels. This is China's policy," Gen. Prawit said.

On Saturday (February 7), Bangkok witnessed the biggest pro-democracy protest in months when -- during a soccer game's scheduled parade -- prestigious Thammasat University's students smuggled subversive floats into the National Stadium.

Gen. Prayuth's weekly, nationally televised lectures were mocked by a float showing him speaking on TV flanked by the infantile characters from the British "Teletubbies" series for children.

In the stadium's bleachers, an unfurled banner said, "Coup = Corruption."

Gen. Prayuth's personal "Twelve Core Values" -- which schools throughout Thailand now require students to memorize and repeat -- was changed to one word, "Democracy," and partially covered by red splotches, as if stained with blood.

Other banners said, "Down with Dictatorship" and "Long Live Democracy," before surprised police grabbed the long pieces of cloth.

The soccer game is an annual match between Thammasat and Chulalongkorn universities, and traditionally permitted tame, humorous floats.

The Thammasat students' parade on Saturday (February 7) was the most daring and biggest anti-coup protest in months, defying military officers who earlier warned them against staging any dissent.

Shortly after Gen. Prayuth's coup, hundreds of pro-democracy Thais gathered in the streets here in Bangkok and flashed the three-finger salute portrayed in the Hollywood film, "The Hunger Games," which symbolizes defiance against dictatorship.

Thai dissidents staged other imaginative protests by creating symbolic, coded activities such as intentionally eating sandwiches in public, silently reading Orwell's "1984" dystopian novel, and posting vivid anti-coup memes and slogans on Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco, California, reporting news from Asia since 1978, and recipient of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He is a co-author of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including "Hello My Big Big Honey!" Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews; 60 Stories of Royal Lineage; and Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News Since 1946. Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the final chapter, "Ceremonies and Regalia," in a new book titled King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in Perspective.

His websites are

http://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/animists/sets

https://gumroad.com/l/RHwa

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