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02616
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CONFIDENTIAL
From: C C W Adams Date: 12 December 1986
SIRY
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Mr Gillmore
Dr Wilson
Mr Furness, SPD Miss Goldsmith, Protocol Dept
65
SECRETARY OF STATE'S VISIT TO THAILAND 21 APRIL 1987
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1. Mr Culshaw's minute to Mr Furness of 9 December 1986 requested further advice about the importance of the Secretary of State's attendance at the dinner to be hosted by Thai Foreign Minister ACM Siddhi on 21 April 1987, to mark the opening of the 43rd Session of the Economic and Social Committee for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
2. As Mr Furness explained in his submission of 22 October, the Secretary of State's arrival in Thailand coincides with the 40th Anniversay of ESCAP. This will be a high profile occasion and participation by the Secretary of State will be difficult to avoid. Therefore, if he were not to attend the dinner, he would be expected to attend part of the formal opening session in the afternoon. This will be a dull affair and of little substance. Furthermore, were the Secretary of State to attend any part of the afternoon session, this would inevitably eat into an already tight schedule and detract from what the Thais accept as the essentially bilateral nature of this visit (Bangkok telno 576).
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In view of the fact that ESCAP will be celebrating its 40th Anniversay, other member states may also be represented at a similarly high level. Attendance at the dinner may, therefore, present the Secretary of State with an opportunity to meet a number of his colleagues.
4. I, therefore, recommend that the programme for 21 April 1987 remains that attached to Mr Furness' submission of 22 October and that the Secretary of State attend the ESCAP dinner. The dinner would not be a suitable occasion for a speech by the Secretary of State. Much more effective from a publicity angle would be a press briefing during his visit to the refugee camp on the Thai/Cambodian border. This would provide an opportunity for the Secretary of State to underline our support for Thailand as a front-line state (of interest to the Thai press). In its human and humanitarian aspects it should also appeal to the British and
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CONFIDENTIAL