Poonkham Jittipat
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A GENEALOGY OF THAI DÉTENTE Discourses, Differences and Decline of Thailand’s Triangular Diplomacy (1968-1980) Jittipat Poonkham Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of International Politics Aberystwyth University 2018 Summary This thesis is a genealogy of the Thai conception of détente in the long 1970s (1968-1980), largely based on newly declassified documents in Thailand. It argues that Thai détente marked a history of rupture in Thai foreign policy narrative that was fundamentally different from the hegemonic discourse of anticommunism. By the late 1960s, the latter had become seriously challenged by the deteriorating situation in the Vietnam War and exacerbated by the concomitant prospect of American retrenchment. This sequence of events resulted in discursive anxiety in Thailand and the idea of ‘flexible diplomacy’ was initiated by Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman to cope with the changed environment. Since then, détente emerged as a new diplomatic discourse to normalize relations with the Communist powers in general, and specifically, the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The thesis closely examines three episodes of Thai détente, including that of Thanat Khoman (1968-1971), M.R. Kukrit Pramoj and Chatichai Choonhavan (1975-1976), and General Kriangsak Chomanan (1977-1980). It argues that each episode, epitomized by varying concepts of ‘flexible diplomacy’ and ‘equidistance’, developed out of discursive struggles between détente proponents and Cold Warriors. These struggles precipitated attempts to sustain the anticommunist discursive hegemony, which culminated in the military coups in November 1971 and October 1976. The thesis demonstrates how these coups can be interpreted as events born out of foreign policy, and specifically to deter, or at least temper, the course of détente. The thesis also asserts that, throughout the long 1970s, détente in general transformed Thai foreign relations with the Soviet Union and the PRC from the discourses of ‘enemy’ towards ‘friend’. This diplomatic transformation was represented in numerous diplomatic practices, such as ping-pong or sports diplomacy, petro-diplomacy, trade, cultural diplomacy, the establishment of diplomatic relations, and normal state visits. Despite its decline in the early 1980s, the détente discourse remained intact and determined Thai diplomacy toward the Communist powers. Finally, the thesis interrogates the so-called bamboo or bending-with-the-wind diplomacy, which is often treated as an ahistorical ‘tradition’ of Thai diplomacy, and argues that bamboo diplomacy emerged as a new narrative or knowledge only in the early 1970s. It aimed at not only legitimizing Thailand’s changing diplomatic practices, namely détente, but also constituting the metanarrative that could explain and evaluate (the success or failure of) Thai diplomacy in the past. This narrative was then an invented tradition, which was socially and epistemically constructed as a result of the transformative practices of détente in Thailand. By tracing the birth of bamboo diplomacy, the thesis constitutes a history of the present. 1 2 Acknowledgements Despite a dialogic conversation with others, the academic voyage is a solitary one. Along the way, we are on our own, reading, researching and writing – despite, or because of, interacting and exchanging with other human beings, including our family, friends and fellows. This thesis could not possibly have been written without the help and support of many people. First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to Sergey Radchenko, my first supervisor, whose intellectual insights on the Cold War International History provided the building blocks for my initial project; Matt Phillips, my second and primary supervisor, whose historical expertise on Thailand in the Cold War was immensely invaluable and who enthusiastically put my thesis in the right direction as well as encouragingly believed in the main arguments of the thesis; and Charalampos Efstathopoulos (Haris), my secondary supervisor, who professionally supported me as well as conceptually and theoretically sharpened my thesis. Many thanks to all of them who diligently read through various drafts and provided me with very useful and insightful comments. I am extremely indebted to all of my colleagues at the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University. Special thanks to those from the Department of International Relations, most notably Chulacheeb Chinwanno, Kitti Prasirtsuk, M.L. Pinitbhand Parabatra, Janjira Sombatpoonsiri, Virot Ali, Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi and Prapimphan Chiengkul for their patient support, encouragement and intellectual companionship. At Thammasat, I wish to thank Noranit Settabutr, Supassawas Chardchawarn, Chalidaporn Songsampan, Patcharee Siroros, Tavida Kamolvej, Wasan Luangprapat, Sikarn Issarachaiyos and Puli Fuwongcharoen for their generous support and professionalism. I am also humbly grateful to Thammasat University for funding. Needless to say, without their endless support, this project would not have gotten far. At my alma mater, Chulalongkorn University, I want to extend my special thanks to my former teachers, including Kullada Kesboonchoo Mead, Chaiwat Khamchoo, Supamit Pitipat and Soravis Jayanama, for their intellectual conversations, moral support and enduring inspiration. It was Kullada, my former supervisor and mentor, who first introduced me to the archival research. In the mid-2000s, she and I had conducted the research project on Thai-US relations during the Cold War at the National Archive in Maryland, the United States. I am deeply grateful to her as well as Richard Mead, who also encouraged my academic pursuit. 3 Special thanks to Tej Bunnag, Surapong Jayanama, Sarasin Viraphol, Warnwai Phatthanothai and Yodboon Lertrit, who kindly shared their first-hand experiences as well as political and diplomatic insights throughout our interviews. I especially appreciated the encouragement and enthusiasm of Kirill Barsky, Russian Ambassador to Bangkok, as well as Paradorn Rangsimaporn of the Russian Division at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I also owe a great debt to many archivists at Thailand’s National Archive and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as librarians at Thammasat University without whose help this thesis would not have been finished. Similarly, the thesis benefited immensely from those online published materials. I am thankful to Aekpaween Anuson, Kletdoaw Boonmanee and Chutidech Metheechutikul for their invaluable technical and logistic assistance. Numerous conversations with my former students, including Peera Charoenvattananukul, Torsak Jindasuksri, Thanapat Bekanan and Aekpaween, stimulated a thoughtful commentary. In the course of writing this thesis, I was invited to present various chapters as talks at Chulalongkorn University, the Yale-NUS College, National University of Singapore (NUS), Thammasat University, MGIMO University and Lomonosov Moscow State University. Special thanks to my Russian colleague and friend, Victor Sumsky, for his academic comradeship and extraordinary generosity during my public lectures in Moscow. At Thammasat, I wish to thank Suphat Supachalasai, for his ingenious host and hospitality for my inaugural public lecture, commemorating the 120th anniversary of Thai-Russian relations, at the Russia and CIS Studies Centre, Thammasat University. At the NUS, I want to thank Naoko Shimazu, Tuong Vu and Yuexin Rachel Lin for their insightful and constructive engagements. At Chulalongkorn, I am grateful to Suthiphand Chirathivat, Rom Phiramontri and Natthanan Kunnamas for their invitation and support. At the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, I wish to express my gratitude to my postgraduate fellows and professors for their extremely critical (yet friendly) dialogue, engagement and support throughout these three consecutive years. Special thanks to Andrew Linklater, Mustapha Pasha and Milja Kurki for their wonderful source of intellectual encouragement and inspiration. I also want to thank all of my friends in Thailand and in the UK for their friendship and support: thank, in particular, Dennis Rach, who read the whole manuscript and provided helpful comments. 4 Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my family: my late father for teaching me how to read; my mother for teaching me how to write; and my beloved aunt for teaching me how to care for details as well as for other human beings. Last, but not least, heartfelt thanks to Angkana Kaewkuekoonkit for her companionship in life, unending patience, much-needed encouragement and immeasurable love. 5 6 Contents Acknowledgements 3 Chapter 1. Introduction 9 Chapter 2. Cold War Discursive Hegemony: Anticommunism, 41 Americanism and Antagonism Chapter 3. Bending before the Wind: The Emergence of 61 ‘Flexible Diplomacy’ (1968-1969) Chapter 4. Flexible Diplomacy: Thanat and the First Détente (1969-1971) 88 Chapter 5. Interregnum – 1971: A Coup against Diplomacy? 126 Chapter 6. A Diplomatic Transformation: Chatichai, Kukrit and 166 the Second Détente (1975-1976) Chapter 7. Equidistance: Kriangsak and the Third Détente (1977-1980) 224 Chapter 8. Conclusion 282 Bibliography 297 7 8 Chapter 1 Introduction: A Genealogy of Thai Détente 1.1. Puzzles ‘When a friend is in trouble’, said the Thai Prime Minister, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, ‘moral support from allies is needed. Russia still chooses to be friends with Thailand today, and we will ensure the bond of friendship remains tight.’1