20 September 2024

Senator Kamnoon Stthisamarn has questioned the necessity of the arrival of US troops in Thailand, for joint exercises with their Thai counterparts, despite objections from the CCSA.

Writing in his Facebook post today, the Senator said that the latest extension of the state of emergency maintains the CCSA as the command centre for management of the COVID-19 situation in Thailand, in a cohesive way and under a set of common standards, as the global COVID-19 pandemic remains a matter of serious concern.

He said that the majority of Thai people understand the need to have the CCSA in place.
“What is this all about sir?” asked Mr. Kamnoon, adding that the CCSA did not want the American troops to come, but could prevent it.

110 US troops arrived from Guam and Japan yesterday and today (Tuesday) for the joint exercise with Thai troops, codenamed “Hanuman Guardian 20”.

The US troops underwent swab tests on arrival, as any Thai person does when arriving from abroad, and they are now in state supervised quarantine in private hotels, in Bangkok and Pathum Thani, at the expense of the US government.