Senator questions the admission of US troops during state of emergency

A Thai senator is questioning the need for US troops to participate in joint exercises with their Thai counterparts while a state of emergency is still in place in the country. The emergency decree was extended for the third time at the end of July and is now set to expire at the end of this month.

Senator Kamnoon Sidhisamarn is questioning the admission of US troops during this period, saying the government’s own Covid-19 task force was not in favour of the move. According to a Thai PBS World report, Kamnoon has taken to Facebook to describe the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration as the command centre for managing the Covid-19 crisis in Thailand. With the pandemic showing no signs of abating around the globe, he says most Thai people accept the need for the CCSA, adding that they could have prevented 110 US troops from arriving in the country had they wanted to.

The troops have arrived in the Kingdom from Guam and Japan and will join their Thai counterparts in a joint exercise code-named, “Hanuman Guardian 20”. They have been tested on arrival and are now in mandatory state quarantine at hotels in Bangkok and the central province of Pathum Thani, at the expense of the US government.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World