751G.92/407
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hamilton)
The Thai Minister called at his request in regard to other matters. When he had completed what he had to take up with me, I said that I wished to take advantage of the fact that he was in my office to call to his attention informally that the Thai Radio News Service and Thai papers had recently been carrying stories to the effect that the American Minister at Bangkok had called at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the Thai Government officially that it was the desire of the United States to maintain the status quo of Indochina, but that the recovery of lost territories by Thailand constituted a special case to which the American Minister did not object. I said that, in view of these misleading and erroneous reports, our Minister had felt impelled to issue statements to the press calling attention to what had actually taken place. I said that Japanese press agencies had also picked up the stories emanating from Thai sources and had given them considerable publicity. I told the Minister that we were surprised at this development; that publication of inaccurate information was of course unfortunate in its effect on relations between Thailand and the United States; and that such publicity was bound to cause confusion and misunderstanding, as well as to play into the hands of any elements which might desire to create mischief and to bring about effects detrimental to both Thailand and the United States.
The Minister made some remarks in regard to the press in his country at times acting in an irresponsible manner. He said that he would report to his Government the fact that we had called informally to his attention our view that we did not see how publicity of the type which had apparently emanated from Thai sources could have a useful effect in relations between our two countries.