US top-brass officer visits Thailand

BANGKOK, June 5 (TNA) - US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey is paying a two-day official visit to Thailand, scheduled for June 4-5, as the guest of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, aimed to further strengthen military ties and cooperation between Washington and Bangkok. General Dempsey was officially welcomed Tuesday morning by Thai Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimakorn at the Royal Thai Armed Forces' headquarters in Bangkok, where he also observed a guard of honour before holding talks with Thai military leaders. The Royal Thai Armed Forces chief told a press conference after the talks that bilateral relations between the United States and Thailand, which have been maintained for over 180 years, have now shown signs of further strengthening in the regional level, through joint military drills and regular exchanges of advance technologies, as the US Pentagon is paying more attention to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which Thailand is a key member. General Dempsey told the press conference that he was pleased to visit Thailand, a starting point planned by Washington to further build up security ties with Asian nations, following a security summit in Singapore recently. The visiting Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff also explained that the Pentagon has nothing to do with a reported plan of the US civilian-oriented National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to set up a weather inspection centre at the U Ta-Phao military airport in Thailand's eastern resort Chonburi province, saying that the Pentagon's projects at the U Ta-Phao military airport have been focused on disaster mitigation and humanitarian mission since the US and Thai military forces first held their joint annual exercises under the code name of "Cobra Gold" in 1982. (TNA)