Cobra Gold military exercises begin in Rayong with 7,000 personnel taking part
More than 7,000 military personnel from 30 nations are taking part in the annual Cobra Gold 2023 military exercises co-led by Thailand and United States that kicked off on Tuesday.
The opening ceremony of the exercises, which go on until March 10, was jointly presided over by Thailand’s Chief of Defence Forces General Chalermpol Srisawat, US ambassador Robert F Godec, and the chief of United States’ Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John C Aquilino.
This year’s exercises will be the first to include training for space disasters.
The seven nations participating in the main war exercises are: Thailand, United States, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and Malaysia.
China, India and Australia are participating in humanitarian aid exercises, while the 10 observer nations are: Cambodia, Laos, Brazil, Pakistan, Vietnam, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Kuwait and Sri Lanka.
Cobra Gold is the biggest joint military exercise in Southeast Asia, hosted in Thailand every year by the Thai Armed Forces and US Indo-Pacific Command. The programme aims to promote military relationships among participating nations and to increase efficiency in responding to threats in all aspects including land, sea, air, cyber and space.
