Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, South and Southeast Asia, Volume XV

551. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, June 29, 1960, 11:15 a.m.¹

Washington, June 29, 1960, 11:15 a.m.

SUBJECT

• Call by King of Thailand on the President

PARTICIPANTS

• President Eisenhower
• Christian A. Herter, Secretary of State
• U. Alexis Johnson, U.S. Ambassador to Thailand
• John M. Steeves, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs
• His Majesty King Bhumibol
• Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman
• Ambassador Visutr Arthayukti

General Luan Sura Narong

The President spent approximately fifteen minutes alone with the King of Thailand before the other participants were called in to join the conversation.

When the additional guests had been received by the President and had been seated, the President remarked in a somewhat humorous vein that he and His Majesty had reviewed briefly matters of mutual interest to the United States and Thailand, and he believed that there were no problems and therefore very little of substance to discuss.

Almost immediately, on his own initiative, the President raised the matter of rice which he said he knew to be a problem, growing out of the large contract for surplus grains which we had made to India under PL 480. The rice portion might have adversely affected the marketing of Thai rice. The President then discussed our surplus grain problem, pointing out that it was not only a problem of considerable magnitude to the United States economically, requiring us to dispose of it in the most appropriate ways, but that in face of the known needs of hungry people here and there in the world, there was a humanitarian aspect added to the economic one. He pointed out in passing that in wheat alone we had approximately a two-year surplus in reserve in our storage bins, which was costing us about $1,000 a minute to store, or a billion dollars annually. It would certainly appear unseemly to dispose of it in any wasteful manner but, if at all possible, it ought to be brought to bear upon the proven needs which exist in the world. India was one such place.

The President himself raised the question as to why we had added rice to the wheat deal with India and that, on second thought, it might have been better to confine it to wheat rather than complicate the marketing pattern in the area by including rice in the agreement. The Secretary explained very briefly that while a large measure of India’s needs could be met with wheat, this was not completely possible. Substitution was possible to a degree, but India strongly desired rice as well. It was further pointed out that much of the rice would be used as stockpile for reserve and that it therefore did not have a very heavy impact on the immediate marketing patterns in the area.

The King showed a remarkable understanding of the transaction and made haste to point out that the intrinsic effect was not very serious, that Thailand had been able to sell her rice and that it was therefore somewhat of a psychological problem. The Foreign Minister and the King both pointed out that Thailand relied very heavily upon the sale of rice as national income, receiving from this source alone approximately 50 percent of its foreign exchange. The Foreign Minister did not in any way disagree with the King, assenting to the fact that a large part of the problem was a psychological one, but he did point out that whereas they had disposed of the required volume of rice the monetary returns had been slightly less than standard, due to reduction in price.

The President responded wholeheartedly to the implied suggestion that better coordination and consultation were required with our friends in the disposal of our surplus grains. He said that what we ought to do is to devise a technique something like our wheat agreement, whereby we sat down in consultation with our friends to improve distribution and to minimize the adverse effects which do result when the entire program has not been carefully worked out. He further gave the King and the Foreign Minister the assurance that the United States would not conduct our PL 480 operations in such a way as to replace Thailand’s normal marketing opportunities.

There was a general discussion of Thailand’s financial position. It was pointed out by Ambassador Johnson that Thailand deserved a great deal of credit for the sound manner in which she had managed her financial affairs and maintained one of the best exchange positions in the world. Thai currency was very hard and Thailand’s position was sufficiently good so as to require very little control in order to maintain the integrity of the baht as compared with the dollar. This analysis brought forth complimentary remarks from the President and the Secretary of State, to the obvious pleasure of the King and his associates.

Some discussion took place with respect to the development of rubber in Thailand, her relationship to world tin markets and, later, some response to the President’s question about Thailand’s interest in developing industry. The King and the Foreign Minister explained that Thailand had taken steps to create a favorable climate for foreign investment, to which the President responded by discussing briefly the need to maintain conditions which would continue to attract foreign investment. He said he was glad to know that Thailand had created such conditions.

No other matters of substance were discussed, and the forty-five minute conversation broke up with the President showing His Majesty a number of paintings in his office in which the King obviously had great interest. The entire meeting was extremely cordial throughout. Great understanding was manifested on both sides. It is to be noted that the Foreign Minister discussed the rice situation very dispassionately and objectively, despite the fact that in the past this has been a subject to which he has periodically reacted with some emotion.

1. Source: Department of State, Presidential Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 66 D 204. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Steeves on June 30, and approved by the Secretariat in the Department of State on July 1 and by Goodpaster on July 9.

   King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit of Thailand visited the United States, June 14–July 14, and were in Washington on their State visit, June 28–July 2. For text of the joint communiqué issued by the President and King Bhumibol on July 1, see Department of State Bulletin, July 25, 1960, p. 146. On June 29, the King addressed a joint session of Congress; for text of his remarks, see ibid., p. 144.

   Most of the documentation on the preparations for the King’s visit is in Department of State, Central File 792.11. Material on the stay in Washington, June 28–July 2, is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 599, CF 1711 and 1712.