Thursday 4 January 2018

US Department of Defence denied yesterday that Washington has sought to build a military service depot in Thailand

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No military depot, says US


4 Jan 2018 at 04:00

The United States Embassy in Bangkok denied yesterday that Washington has sought to build a military service depot in Thailand but a source close to the matter insisted the rumour was both credible and accurate.

No such proposal was made by the United States at the recently concluded 4th Defence Strategic Talks (DSTs), according to Jillian Bonnardeaux, a spokeswoman for the embassy.

Ms Bonnardeaux was referring to a front page story published in the Bangkok Post on Jan 3 titled "US seeks to build military service depot".

The Post quoted a Defence Ministry source who attended the latest DSTs as saying the US Department of Defence wants to open a military arms maintenance centre in Thailand to supply and fix US armaments purchased by the Thai military.

The source said the US has not yet specified where it wants the centre to be located. The matter was discussed at the last DSTs last month at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, the source claimed.

Ms Bonnardeaux said officials from both countries reviewed various forms of US-Thai defence cooperation at the talks but did not touch on this topic.

She said the US values this cooperation and looks forward to holding the 5th DSTs later this year in Thailand.

"We are committed to continue building on our strong defence relationship with Thailand, a relationship based on our mutual security needs and shared commitment to regional security," she said.

Original post: bangkokpost.com

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