read thiland news paper. indian hardly mentioned there.! what REdiff??????
Speech of US President George Bush US President George Bush delivers a speech at Queen Sirikit Convention Centre on August 7, 2008.
Sawasdee Krub,
Laura and I are delighted to be back in Bangkok. We appreciate the gracious welcome extended by His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.
Above all, I bring America's warmest wishes to our oldest allies in Asia - the people of Thailand. Our friendship began 175 years ago this spring, when President Andrew Jackson dispatched an envoy to Siam. Negotiators soon concluded a treaty of peace and commerce and sealed it with a lotus flower on one side and an eagle and stars on the other. Generations of close friendship followed. At one point, the Thai King offered to send elephants to America. President Abraham Lincoln had to politely decline.
The values of freedom and openness that gave birth to our alliance have sustained it through the centuries. American troops and the Royal Thai Armed Forces have stood united from Korea and Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq. Our free market economies have surged forward on a rising tide of trade and investment. Tourism has boomed, as more people discover this beautiful and ancient land. And some 200,000 Thai Americans now enrich my Nation with their enterprise, culture, and faith.
On this historic anniversary of our alliance, America looks to Thailand as a leader in the region and a partne
