Suspicion over use of U-Tapao is hardly surprising

It may be true, as senior Thai government and US officials have tried to explain, that Nasa, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, simply wanted to use U-Tapao for weather research aircraft. Just three planes will take off and land in August and September to take cloud samples in the higher reaches of the sky above Thailand for scientific research.

It may also be true that the US wants to use U-Tapao airbase as a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training and readiness centre – although few appear to believe that.

The Fourth Thai-US Strategic Dialogue in Washington last week agreed to set up a working group to jointly develop a plan to use U-Tapao as a facility for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The working group will explore all possibilities to have such a centre established in Thailand, but the details are still being worked out.

Scientific research, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief are all civilian work but Hollywood movies conjure up an image of Nasa inventing technology that could be used for military purposes. In reality, unmanned flying objects were widely used in Nasa’s space exploration, as well as the Pentagon’s wars. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones, played a significant role in the modern warfare seen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But disaster relief work can be very similar to war-time situations.

Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief are badly needed when countries are fighting wars. The new trend in today’s world is that countries like to use military resources for this civilian purpose.

It’s very logical for local politicians, mass media and intellectuals in Thailand to mix up hi-tech Nasa and the Pentagon’s plan for disaster relief with a new US strategy to gravitate its military presence towards the Asia-Pacific when new regional powerhouse China is flexing its muscles.

It’s all right to imagine that Nasa is researching something absolutely advanced in the heavens and perhaps in the airspace over this region while the Pentagon is moving on the ground in search of locations for its infantry and hiding places for satellite-linked UAVs.

The naval airbase at U-Tapao makes all this seem real, as it was built for a war and served the US well in the Vietnam War during the 1960s-70s. U-Tapao along with other outposts in the Philippines and Vietnam would allow the US to completely contain China in the Pacific, notably the South China Sea. The timing is uncanny as China is currently involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea with many countries in this region including both the Philippines and Vietnam.

Thailand might be relatively removed from the conflict in the South China Sea but the Kingdom is located next to Myanmar, where China’s influence is obvious, and the US still has no strong ties with Nay Pyi Taw.

The conspiracy theory would be more perfect for local consumption if former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra could be brought into the picture.

That’s why anti-Thaksin politicians spread rumours that Yingluck Shinawatra’s government offered U-Tapao in exchange for a US visa for Thaksin.

However, the issue that people in this country have failed to debate is Thailand’s grand strategy for security and international relations.

No one can predict the nature of conflicts among nations in the future and what kind of threat – man-made or natural – this country is really facing.

Indeed, natural disasters are more of a distinct threat that can happen anytime to disrupt the daily lives of people in Thailand and the region than a war between the US and China.

If Thailand really fears military confrontation, it could invite China and Asean into the scheme, rather than scrap the deal. Let’s analyse the situation and deal with reality – imagination alone cannot help.