Clinton Offers Flood Help To Thailand

[webfact]

Clinton offers flood help to Thailand

HONOLULU, November 11, 2011 (AFP) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that she would offer US assistance to flood-hit Thailand on a visit next week but wanted to see what the kingdom's leaders needed.

Clinton said she would highlight "specific measures of assistance" during her talks in Bangkok with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government.

"We are willing to help the Thai government and the Thai people, but we want to make sure that we are responding to the help requested," Clinton said after a speech in Hawaii in response to a question from a Thai student.

"It is not up to us to make a judgment on what you need. It is for us to sit with your government and for your officials to tell us what you require and then for us to respond," she said.

Clinton scheduled the Thai visit between stops in the Philippines and Indonesia after Yingluck canceled her trip to Hawaii for this weekend's summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Clinton said Yingluck "made exactly the right decision" in staying at home to handle the crisis.

Thailand's response to the major floods has become a sensitive issue.

The US Navy initially sent an aircraft carrier but it left after American officials said that Thailand's powerful military did not request assistance.

Thailand later asked a US destroyer to extend its stay so its helicopters could survey flood waters.

The Thai government says that 533 people have died in the country's worst floods in half a century, with the slowly advancing waters now threatening the heart of Bangkok, a city of 12 million people.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-11-11

[webfact]

Clinton to visit Bangkok next week

The Nation

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be stopping off in Bangkok next Wednesday on her way to Indonesia, where she will be attending a meeting with Asean leaders.

The US Embassy in Bangkok said the visit was aimed at underscoring the strong bilateral ties and Washington's support for Thailand's recovery efforts following the severe flooding. While in Bangkok, Clinton will be meeting senior officials to discuss shared interests and regional issues in advance of the East Asia Summit, which will be held in Bali from next Thursday to Saturday.

-- The Nation 2011-11-11

[tlansford]

The US Navy initially sent an aircraft carrier but it left after American officials said that Thailand's powerful military did not request assistance.

The AFP is repeating its previous statements (with slight enhancements here) which were debunked by the American Ambassador already.

[robbie22]

Thanks America and To Hillary looking forward to her visit. We need all the help we can get here.

[givenall]

Clinton offers flood help to Thailand

HONOLULU, November 11, 2011 (AFP) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that she would offer US assistance to flood-hit Thailand on a visit next week but wanted to see what the kingdom's leaders needed.

.

What Thailand needs is a new PM and new competent government

[BigRick]

I am glad as an American we are going to help. I am sure there will be the usual American bashing that accompanies every thread of this nature but I don't see anyone else spending the kind of cash the US spends on aid around the world.

[Buchholz]

The US Navy initially sent an aircraft carrier but it left after American officials said that Thailand's powerful military did not request assistance.

The AFP is repeating its previous statements (with slight enhancements here) which were debunked by the American Ambassador already.

The so-called "debunking" was at least attempted to be spun that way.

Yingluck's government did not ask for the USS George Washington to stay.

.

[maiphedmaiaroi]

What do they want in return?

or is it just to show dumb people that america is such a great country that helps everyone.

I remember when i was a kid and i always thought americans were the good guys. How wrong was i.

[gl555]

Here we go again with the idiotic American bashing.

The Americans have all kinds of faults but they're always the first to offer help when a disaster strikes somewhere but there's always some dumb <snip> out there who think they want something in return.

Get a life,

Edited November 11, 2011 by metisdead
Obscenity removed..

[geriatrickid]

What do they want in return?

or is it just to show dumb people that america is such a great country that helps everyone.

I remember when i was a kid and i always thought americans were the good guys. How wrong was i.

Are you so full of hate that you can not appreciate a gesture of friendship and compassion? I don't see Russia or China offering this assistance. What of the oil rich arab countries?

Is it so hard to be appreciative of a positive gesture? America may not be perfect, but I'll take its imperfections any day of the week over the predictable harshness of Russia, China and many other nations.

Fortunately, you do not speak for the tens of thousands that will benefit from the US aid.

[maiphedmaiaroi]

What do they want in return?

or is it just to show dumb people that america is such a great country that helps everyone.

I remember when i was a kid and i always thought americans were the good guys. How wrong was i.

Are you so full of hate that you can not appreciate a gesture of friendship and compassion? I don't see Russia or China offering this assistance. What of the oil rich arab countries?

Is it so hard to be appreciative of a positive gesture? America may not be perfect, but I'll take its imperfections any day of the week over the predictable harshness of Russia, China and many other nations.

Fortunately, you do not speak for the tens of thousands that will benefit from the US aid.

Wow. Thats a typical reply from a brainwashed "america is great" person.

I suggest you stop watching or reading mainstream media. You never know you might learn a thing or two.

[hellodolly]

<br />

The US Navy initially sent an aircraft carrier but it left after American officials said that Thailand's powerful military did not request assistance.

<br /><br />The AFP is repeating its previous statements (with slight enhancements here) which were debunked by the American Ambassador already.<br /><br /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

I missed the debunking.

Did the Thai government ask for help and the US refused to help. Or did the air craft carrier just come here look around and leave with out offering to help or did it in fact not come here at all?

[F4UCorsair]

Whatever people say or think about the US, they are always in there with aid during an emergency. They even offered the Russians assistance with recovery of the Kursk some years back.

[hellodolly]

What do they want in return?

or is it just to show dumb people that america is such a great country that helps everyone.

I remember when i was a kid and i always thought americans were the good guys. How wrong was i.

Are you so full of hate that you can not appreciate a gesture of friendship and compassion? I don't see Russia or China offering this assistance. What of the oil rich arab countries?

Is it so hard to be appreciative of a positive gesture? America may not be perfect, but I'll take its imperfections any day of the week over the predictable harshness of Russia, China and many other nations.

Fortunately, you do not speak for the tens of thousands that will benefit from the US aid.

Wow. Thats a typical reply from a brainwashed "america is great" person.

I suggest you stop watching or reading mainstream media. You never know you might learn a thing or two.

Quite correct he might learn a thing or two if he reads some obscure news sources.

Also you might learn a thing or two if you read some main stream sources.

Hate is a horrible thing and the worse part of it is you become incapable of sane thinking.

[metisdead]

It is perfectly acceptable to report on events and give opinions, it is not acceptable to post in a manner in which to bash any specific country.

[maiphedmaiaroi]

Im not bashing americans. I have met a few good ones but its there goverments intentions that are very worriying. Thank god Thailand doesnt have lots of oil

[poskat]

I'm disappointed by this thread.

from the title I thought it would be about Bill Clinton wanting to visit Soi Cowboy to personally distribute some baht to the girls there whose families upcountry are flooded......

[fred110]

I'm disappointed by this thread.

from the title I thought it would be about Bill Clinton wanting to visit Soi Cowboy to personally distribute some baht to the girls there whose families upcountry are flooded......

[emilyb]

Im not bashing americans. I have met a few good ones but its there goverments intentions that are very worriying. Thank god Thailand doesnt have lots of oil

There was an idiot troll in the last thread who kept implying some massive quid pro quo and eventually took to talking about how America would submit an invoice for the help later and how this was standard practice. He or she then promptly disappeared when questioned multiple times on evidence for these claims. So, my advice, if you're going to naively troll about America's foreign relations like a child, don't make the mistake of citing concrete facts to back it up, just keep alluding to things.

Or you could stop and think about how our relationship with Thailand really works. I'm not going to type up my long response to that again, but only ingenues think that with such a strategic ally we would use such an offensive quid pro quo. We have a long-term relationships with Thailand in which each party uses the other strategically. We don't dangle emergency aid for favors with anyone, but we do sometimes dangle aid for favors with unfriendly nations like DPRK. It's a world of difference. Read up on it.

We've got a very spotty foreign policy history, but it's silly to look at every single foreign interaction as if it's us deposing Mossadegh or something. And tiresome.

Edited November 11, 2011 by emilyb

[edgarfriendly]

You Have To Tell Us What You Need...Then We'll Respond...

[a99az]

What do they want in return?

or is it just to show dumb people that america is such a great country that helps everyone.

I remember when i was a kid and i always thought americans were the good guys. How wrong was i.

I'll second that.

[noitom]

With so many Americans in the threshold range of poverty and 9-10% unemployment and massive popular sentiment to both cut spending and create jobs at home, the secretary should be very cautious about how she "offers" US taxpayer money to aid a place like Thailand. The State Department already operates with an over bloated budget and a massive payroll of bureaucrats second only to the DOD. The State Department budget should be cut drastically by the next president or Mr. Obama if he wins. The US State Department is layered with excessive personnel living high off the hog all around the world and in the homeland and contributing very little to opportunities for the US economy and its people. The US is notoriously generous with aid throughout the decades and in the case of Thailand, far and away excessive.

First of all, the US with its global philosophy during the cold war and after the People's Revolution, saw SouthEast Asia as a strategic geography. Thailand was the beneficiary of massive US investment in military and strategic support. The growth and strength of the Thai military provided the region and Thailand in particular as a measure of security. This security inherent in the Thai military, enabled Thailand to convince foreign investors, namely the Japanese that the country was secure from communism and was supported by the US. The Japanese happily began to invest in businesses without paying a dime for military development or security. Concurrently with this initiative, Bangkok became the R & R destination of choice for military personnel. The business class elite of Thailand and their military cousins and brothers in law did a very good job of skimming off the money coming their way from military investments by the US. That money went in to funding the growth of Bangkok and Thailand and boosting up the narcotics network and traffic with Bangkok as a major hub. The underground black economy of Thailand thrived with both things happening at the same time. Bangkok, by the late 80s and 90s was developing enough to obtain attractive additional foreign investment and quickly became a bubble that broke in 1997.

So lots of that US aid went towards developing the Thai military which provided the security for its own elite to prosper from Japanese and other foreign investment with skimmed money channeled into the "entertainment" trade, narcotics flow and educations in London and the US for elite, privileged children. This became the cash cow that developed Bangkok and built over all those canals illegally and destroyed all those natural resources and forests. The additional US military aid went a long way towards funding the Thai military for defending the existing feudal elite privileged class with rank against the growing movement, in the provinces, of populist social change at the time in the 70s and its threat to the Thai privileged elite. The Thais somehow convinced likeminded US bureaucrats that their national populist movement was a communist inspired conspiracy and they needed funding to repress it. Of course the "entertainment trade," to be polite, existed for many years in Thailand in Thai society before a foreigner ever "paid for entertainment." Thailand also had the makings of some sort of military resources, but it was the US investment and support of the Thai military that offered the security needed to invest in Thailand and particularly by the Japanese who are notoriously preoccupied with security.

So the US State Depart and DOD have already invested billions of US taxpayer dollars in Thailand over the last six decades and these floods are largely the result of the misappropriation of US taxpayer money to line the pockets of Thai elite, high government bureaucrats, and the military establishment. Thailand has used many of those taxpayer dollars to fund illegal businesses, to pirate and copy intellectual property of all sorts, protect and sponsor drug trade, engage in human trafficking, and give back virtually nothing to the rest of the world by way of humanitarian effort, charity , or aid. They are a non participant. While I am in favor of providing flood assistance to help the people of Thailand, I hope that Secretary Clinton will be very judicious and careful before writing any checks to the Thais and make sure that she knows how and where the Thais are spending every US taxpayer dollar.

[Buchholz]

Im not bashing americans. I have met a few good ones but its there goverments intentions that are very worriying. Thank god Thailand doesnt have lots of oil

There was an idiot troll in the last thread who kept implying some massive quid pro quo and eventually took to talking about how America would submit an invoice for the help later and how this was standard practice. He or she then promptly disappeared when questioned multiple times on evidence for these claims.

It was a ridiculous and memorable "team" effort:

mezcal, on 2011-10-25 07:39:01, said:

...today the US help you, tomorrow they'll be ready to reclaim the favor and put it in your a**...

reggaebkk, on 2011-10-25 09:14:33, said:

US help never comes for free and the hidden payback is always much bigger than the actual help.

newermonkey, on 2011-10-25 12:29:20, said:

No, I am serious the invoice typically would read as follows: Helicopter time = @ US$11,350. per hour x 50 = US$ 567,500 ---- 300 mud shovels (US army issue) @ US$200 x 300 = US$60,000 --- etc.... etc... the prices the US government charge is outrageous so if the Thai Government and authorities can just about manage on their own its far better than accepting help. its like "with friends like these who need enemies"?

.

[OzMick]

I'm disappointed by this thread.

from the title I thought it would be about Bill Clinton wanting to visit Soi Cowboy to personally distribute some baht to the girls there whose families upcountry are flooded......

My thoughts exactly. I'd say it's a safe bet Hilary is not going to let Slick Willy anywhere near Thailand.

[slapout]

What do they want in return? (1)

or is it just to show dumb people that america is such a great country that helps everyone. (2)

I remember when i was a kid and i always thought americans were the good guys. How wrong was i.(3)

1.Doubt that you or any others will be asked to give a kidney eyes, etc, but maybe they will ask for an accounting of the donated goods/money.

2.It does not take a dumb person to appreciate a hand up, in time of need.

3.Youth is when most of us learn values which stay with us for our lifetime. Some are an exception to this and they seem to reject the rest of a functioning society.

[chainarong]

Thanks America, from an Aussie.Which reminds me where is Julia???

[Bangkokhatter]

Im not bashing americans. I have met a few good ones but its there goverments intentions that are very worriying. Thank god Thailand doesnt have lots of oil

You are bashing Americans , you have not contributed anything meaningful to this thread at all and as you say Thailand has no oil , so exactly what do America want ?? Is it beyond you to think that maybe they just want to help , and hopefully this Thai government will accept at last , that help is exactly what they need.

P.S

Am not an American

[rogerdee123]

<br />

The US Navy initially sent an aircraft carrier but it left after American officials said that Thailand's powerful military did not request assistance.

<br /><br />The AFP is repeating its previous statements (with slight enhancements here) which were debunked by the American Ambassador already.<br /><br /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

I missed the debunking.

Did the Thai government ask for help and the US refused to help. Or did the air craft carrier just come here look around and leave with out offering to help or did it in fact not come here at all?

When the US Navy was ready to help the Thai Govt didn't accept.

The (unwritten) reason was, the Navy would have worked with/thru the Thai military and the THai Govt was at that time trying to keep the military out of the relief effort. IF they allowed the US Navy help, the Thai Military would have been at the forefront of the relief effort instead of Yingluck and FROC.

The US Military trains with the Thai military, not only in war games but for emergency disaster relief. Their "partner" in Thailand (and most other countries) is the local Military.

[Nisa]

With so many Americans in the threshold range of poverty and 9-10% unemployment and massive popular sentiment to both cut spending and create jobs at home, the secretary should be very cautious about how she "offers" US taxpayer money to aid a place like Thailand. <snip>

The US knows its friends around the globe, just as itself, will likely have crises' and already budget for such things. Secondly the aid will not be in the form of cash but would be resources. There are numerous non-profit agencies in the United States that the government can also work with in coordinating aid. It would be absolutely ridiculous for the richest nation in the world not to lend a hand to their friends during such a huge disaster.

The US has over $20 Billion invested in Thailand businesses. Thailand is not just a strong trading partner of the US with US exports to Thailand rising considerably these last years but Thailand continues to work closely and be a strong ally of the US when it comes to terrorism and drug trafficking. Thailand is also situated near a number of communist countries as well as military dictatorship. Bottom line is Thailand is a strong and important alley of the United States.

Thailand has aided and fought with the US in Vietnam and Korea as well as supporting operations after 9/11 and participating in the Iraq war and rebuilding efforts in Afganastan and Iraq as well as serving as a logistics hub for operations. Not to mention Thailand provided assistance to the US during Katrina that including 60 doctors.

[Nisa]

You Have To Tell Us What You Need...Then We'll Respond...

??? I don't understand. This is an incredibly smart approach. It is very common for goods to go to waste or for help to become a hindrance after and during disasters. Just think recently about Japan when it told countries to stop sending help and wait for them to figure out what it is the need first and to be able to organize the help that had already come. Hillary in no way indicated the US was coming to the rescue to fix everything but simply said the US would offer aid ... this could be military personal and equipment (I highly doubt it) or it could be industrial water pumps, army core of engineers, food, medical or so on and so fourth.

.