CONFIDENTIAL
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General Kriangsac told the Prime Minister that the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT), which was supported by the Chinese and based in Laos, had now been ordered to leave Laos, as a result of its support for the Pol Pot regime. The General said that he thought that the CPT might now split on the Vietnam/Cambodia issue.
The Prime Minister asked General Kriangsac if in his view the Chinese felt that they were encircled by the Soviet Union and her clients. The General said that he thought that this was a significant factor in Chinese thinking and explained their strong support for Cambodia; only on their coastline, on the South China Sea, were they free from pressure and even there Soviet ships were appearing.
General Kriangsac described Thailand's problems resulting from the influx of refugees from Indo-China and expressed the hope that the West would not devote so much attention to the "boat people" as to forget about the much more numerous "land people". The Prime Minister said that the UK admired the humane efforts which the Thai Government were making to cope with the influx of refugees and described the UK's own very substantial contribution to the UNHCR's fund; the UK would continue to do as much as she could in this field.
General Kriangsac said that he hoped that the UK would exert as much pressure as possible on Vietnam, politically and economically, in order to persuade the Vietnamese to moderate their behaviour. Lord Goronwy-Roberts pointed out that the EEC, including the UK, had already suspended all aid to Vietnam. General Kriangsac expressed the view that Vietnam could not survive for more than two years without Western aid; Soviet aid was confined to the military field.
I am sending copies of this letter to Roger Facer (Ministry of Defence), Tom Harris (Department of Trade), Robert Graham- Harrison (ODM) and Martin Vile (Cabinet Office).
Yours
wver,
Праваследия.
J.S. Wall, Esq.,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office.