751G.92/36: Telegram
The Minister in Thailand (Grant) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8:10 p.m.]
91. Referring to the Legation’s No. 90, September 24, 4 p.m.,2 the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs informed me this afternoon that his Government, following a meeting of the Cabinet this morning, had sent another telegraphic communication to Vichy requesting reconsideration of the Thai claim for the “adjustment of the frontier” between the two countries, involving the two small pieces of territory on the northern and eastern frontier designated as 2 in the Thai aide-mémoire to Vichy dated September 13, which was incorporated in the Legation’s telegram 78, September 15, 4 p.m.3 The Deputy Minister said request had been made of Vichy to authorize consideration and settlement of this claim by the French delegation which will consider jointly with a Thai delegation the question of the boundary line within the Mekong River. He stated, in response to my inquiry, that Vichy had been informed that the Thai Government considered that the question of the return to Thailand of the territories of Laos and Cambodia, mentioned in the last paragraph of the aide-mémoire referred to above, could be discussed later if and when the question of the [Page 153] sovereignty of Indochina arose. He added that Vichy had been informed that the Thai Government desires to negotiate the matter in an amicable and friendly manner and that it is ready to put into force the Pact of Non-aggression between Thailand and France when agreement is reached on the proposed adjustment of the frontier. The Deputy Minister said that in reply to the [Vichy] reference to “normal conditions” in Indochina, his Government had called Vichy’s attention to the fact that conditions in Indochina were not normal at the time of the Vichy reply and are less normal now.
The Deputy Minister then asked me what I thought of the latest Thai communication to the Vichy Government. I replied that while it appeared to be moderate in tone, I wished to reiterate what I had said over and over again for his consideration and that of the Prime Minister, namely, that it would seem to be unwise for Thailand to create any agitation or make any move at this time which might tend to aggravate an already disturbed condition of affairs and to encourage aggression by a third party in Indochina. I stated that my Government was not adopting an unfriendly or unsympathetic attitude toward Thailand in urging the strict maintenance of the status quo in this area, that it sincerely believes that such a policy is for the general good and for the good of Thailand.
Foregoing repeated to Tokyo.