FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Foreign Ministry denies hiring a US lobby firm

Foreign Ministry denies hiring a US lobby firm

Foreign Ministry has denied report that Foreign Minister Surapong Tohvichakchaikul hired a US firm to lobby Washington to build a naval base in Thailand.

In its statement issued yesterday, the ministry reiterated that neither the ministry nor the minister paid US$20,000 to Davenport Mckesson to lobby for the Thai government and never got involved with the company.
The ministry requested Thai Embassy in Washington to seek cooperation with the US authorities to examine into the company as there were some US organisations that were claimed to be clients of the company. They however denied the reports.
According to Fara online, the Yingluck government has paid US$20,000 to a US firm to lobby Washington to build a naval base in Thailand.
The document was posted on the Facebook page of Nadaprapai Sucharitkul. According to a copy of the document purportedly from the US Department of Justice, the Thai government hired Davenport Mckesson Corporation to lobby the US Department of Defence to build a naval air defence base in Thailand.
The US lobbyist was also hired to lobby for US military assistance in establshign a safe harbor zone around Thailand's waters.

The document said the US firm would start representing the Thai government on the lobbying on October 31 this year.
“It was understood by the parties on the date of 10/31/2013, that the government of Thailand, via telephonic correspondence from its Embassy in Washington,DC would be represented by Davenport McKesson Corporation, the corporation would be entitled to upfront fees of $20,000.00USD. Davenport McKesson Corporation in turn agreed to represent the country on the following matters; Davenport McKesson Corporation agreed to provide lobbying services for the TheKingdom of Thailand inside the United States Congress and make certain lobbying efforts inside the Department of Defense, The Kingdom of Thailand is seeking to have the United States Department of Defense build a Nava lAir Defense Base in the Country, also thec ountry of Thailand seeks military assistance in establishing a safe harbor zone around its waters. Davenport McKesson Corporationa lso seeks to assis thecountry in establishing more trade representation centers in the United States,” the document said.
The PDF file of the copy of the document could be found at http://www.fara.gov/docs/6199-Exhibit-AB-20131122-1.pdf.

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