US embassy cable - 03RANGOON1213

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001213 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OASIA JEFF NEIL 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2013 
TAGS: PREL, ECON, BM, TH 
SUBJECT: BURMA: THAI FM VISIT? 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.5 (B,D) 
 
1. (C) Thai Embassy officials in Rangoon deny press reports 
that Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai came to 
Rangoon for a one day visit on September 25, but said he will 
be coming for a visit next week.  However, other local 
diplomatic sources and international press stringers insist 
that the Thai FM arrived in Rangoon this morning on a private 
plane for official business.  Additional sources speculate 
that he came to town to meet SPDC leaders to discuss the 
regime's seven-point "Road Map to Democracy," as well as 
issues related to the upcoming ASEAN summit in Bali.  British 
Embassy Rangoon reports that their colleagues in Bangkok 
believe Surakiart "definitely" came to Rangoon for the day. 
 
2. (C) Comment: We gather that it would not be unusual for 
the Thai Embassy to be uninformed about a "quiet diplomacy" 
visit of their Foreign Minister or other senior Thai 
officials.  However, Thai diplomats here have informed us 
that Prime Minister Thaksin is expected in Rangoon in 
November, along with his Cambodian and Lao counterparts, for 
a meeting of the "Economic Cooperation Strategy (ECS)," 
apparently a Thai initiative aimed at bringing poor ASEAN 
performers up to speed with the rest of the region. 
Martinez