Prime Minister Shinawatra:
Ladies and gentlemen of the
media, let me start by once again welcoming President
Barack Obama and his delegation to Thailand. Thailand is the first country
President Obama chose to visit following with his
decisive reelection less than two weeks ago. We appreciate the significance
of the gesture, Mr. President. And we all thank you
for being here today. President Obama's visit is the
perfect occasion to launch a celebration of 180th
anniversary of Thai-U.S. diplomatic relations next year. I thank both President Obama and
Secretary Clinton for actively promote Thai-U.S. relations
and for the United States' constructive engagement in Asia. This afternoon I had the honor
of accompanying the President for an audience with His Majesty
the King, reflecting the close relationship between our two
countries at the highest level. Lastly, at the bilateral
meetings, we had productive and wide-ranging discussions, and
mostly of friendly partnership. Thailand is the oldest
treaty ally of the U.S. in Asia, and a long-lasting one
because of our shared commitment to democracy, human
rights, and free markets. I expressed to the President
that it is my firm commitment to the people to preserve and
protect democratic systems, and I appreciate the
President's support of democracy in Thailand. And I agree with him that
democracy will lead to economic process, as we agree that
celebrating -- success is not enough. We look to the future and to
build an even stronger strategic partnership that benefit both
countries and indeed the broader regions, ASEAN and Asia Pacific. On the economic front, to
generate growth and create jobs for both Thai and Americans,
the President and I agree to redouble our effort to promote
trade and investment and people-to-people exchanges. We will also strengthen
our cooperation in energy and food securities. Furthermore, we agree that
Thailand is a strategic location and a hub for ASEAN
connectivities and the ASEAN economic communities, AEC. We will work together to make
the regions an engine of growth, contributing toward
global economic stability and sustainabilities. Within this context, I informed
the President that Thailand will initiate negotiations on the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which will engage all
stakeholders and undertake the necessary domestic
legislative process to make it become a reality. The President and I had
wide-ranging discussions about regional issues, and I welcome
his upcoming historic visit to Myanmar and Cambodia. We welcome the United States
bringing new focus on Southeast Asia, and believe our bilateral
partnership can help contribute to regional peace,
securities, and prosperities. But our cooperation
goes beyond the region. At the global level, Thailand
is concerned with the trade of weapons of mass
destruction, or WMD. Therefore, I informed the
President that Thailand will join the Proliferation
Security Initiative, or PSI. We believe that PSI will help
to win WMD from falling into the wrong hands, which is in
the shared interest of all. The President and I also
discussed on how to tackle transnational crimes, and in
particular, human trafficking. I reaffirmed my commitment to
fight human trafficking, which equals to modern slavery. We also discussed cooperation on
combatting terrorism and how to deal with the climate change
issue, especially in the term of disaster relief. Finally, we recognized the
importance of continued high-level exchange and
consultations between our two countries. As part of our growing
partnership, the President and I agree to stay in close touch and
to have our minister and agency to do the same on the rich
agenda we discussed today. Thank you for your time. Speaker:
Thank you very much. And now I would invite the
Honorable Barack Obama, President of the be United
States to say a few words. President Obama:
Well, thank you very much. Good evening to the people
of Thailand who have welcomed me so graciously. And let me say --
Sawatdee khrap. (laughter) I will say that the Prime
Minister's English is much better than my Thai. (laughter) But I want to say thank you so
much, Madam Prime Minister, for your very warm welcome, your
generous words, and the sense of partnership that you
bring to our work today. As you indicated, Asia is my
first foreign trip since our election in the United States,
and Thailand is my first stop. And this is no accident. As I said many times, the
United States is and always will be a Pacific nation. As the fastest-growing region in
the world, the Asia Pacific will shape so much of our security
and prosperity in the century ahead, and it is critical to
creating jobs and opportunity for the American people. And that's why I've made
restoring American engagement in this region a top
priority as President. And the cornerstone of our
strategy is our strong and enduring treaty alliances,
which includes our alliance with Thailand. Thailand is America's
oldest friend in Asia. Next year will mark 180 years
of diplomatic relations. We've been treaty allies,
committed to our common defense, for nearly 60 years. Our men and women in uniform
have stood together and they've bled together. Our businesspeople and our
entrepreneurs work together to create jobs for
both of our peoples. Our diplomats, development
experts, researchers, and student partners every day work
together so that our citizens and the people across this
region can live in peace and security and dignity. Most recently, the people of
Thailand have worked to restore and strengthen your own
democracy, and we are very admiring of the efforts
that had been made. Earlier today, I had the great
honor of having an audience before His Majesty the King, a
leader of wisdom and dignity who embodies the identity
and unity of this nation. And today, I'm proud
to stand beside the democratically-elected leader
of Thailand, and to reaffirm the importance of upholding
democracy, governance, rule of law, and universal human rights
-- all of which I know, Madam Prime Minister, that you
believe in very deeply. When we met in Bali last
year, the Prime Minister and I discussed how we could deepen
and broaden the partnership between our countries. And with this visit, I'm pleased
that we've agreed to a series of efforts that revitalize our
alliance to meet the challenges and opportunities of our time. First, we're deepening
our security cooperation. Our military has already trained
and exercised together, and we're already close partners
in preventing terrorism and combatting narco-traffic. Now we have a new, broader
vision for our alliance. We're going to improve the
ability of our militaries to operate together, and we'll help
Thai forces assume even greater responsibilities in the region,
from maritime security to disaster relief to
preventing piracy. I especially want to commend
Thailand for joining the Proliferation Security
Initiative that prevents the spread of weapons
of mass destruction. And, taken together, these steps
advance our shared vision of a secure and peaceful Asia
Pacific where the rights and responsibilities of
all nations are upheld. Second, we're taking new steps
to expand trade and investment. The United States is already one
of Thailand's biggest trading partners, and we're already
one of the biggest investors in Thailand. But we believe we can do
even more, so we've agreed to reconvene our trade and
investment council to explore new ways that our companies
and our entrepreneurs can do business together. We'll continue to work with our
APEC partners to reduce barriers and move toward a
seamless regional economy. And we'll work together as
Thailand begins to lay the groundwork for joining
high-standard trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific
Partnership. All of this will advance our
vision of a region where trade is free and fair, and all
nations play by the rules. Third, on this 50th anniversary
of the Peace Corps in Thailand, we're moving ahead with
new partnerships to promote development and human dignity. We'll focus on public health;
developing a vaccine for HIV/AIDS; and ensuring that
development is sustainable, especially in regions
along the Mekong River. I recently announced new steps
that the United States is taking to confront the scourge of human
trafficking -- modern slavery. Thailand is also taking new
steps to address this challenge, including measures to
better protect and empower women and girls. And I'm very pleased to see
the leadership that the Prime Minister has taken on what I
think we all agree is a very important issue. And given Thailand's role as an
emerging donor country, I'm very pleased that our two nations
will be working more closely to promote development in other
countries, including fighting malaria along the
Thai-Burma border. We also welcome, by the way,
the leadership that Thailand has taken in protecting wildlife
around the world; it's something that Thailand should
be very proud of. Finally, we discussed a
range of regional challenges. Thailand has supported the
cause of democracy in Burma, protecting dissidents, hosting
refugees, and promoting reform. And I very much appreciate the
Prime Minister's insights as I prepare to visit Burma tomorrow. As a founding member of ASEAN,
Thailand will play an important role in our meetings
in Cambodia. And I especially want to thank
our Thai friends for being so supportive of our role in the
East Asia Summit, which should be the premier forum for
discussing regional challenges, including maritime security. So once again, Madam Prime
Minister, I want to thank you for your hospitality and your
partnership, and because of the progress that we've made today
I think we've put the U.S.-Thai alliance on an even firmer
footing for many years to come. And tonight I look forward
to celebrating the bonds of friendship between our peoples,
and also enjoying some Thai food, which is one
of my favorites. So thank you very much. Kob khun krab. Speaker:
Thank you very
much, Mr. President. And now we will take a few
questions from the floor. I would ask, if I have not
already mentioned so, to ask you to identify your
name and affiliation. We have about four questions. And so the first question
is to the Thai media. So could I have the
first question, please? The Press:
Good evening. I'm (indiscernible), I
represent (inaudible) newspaper here in Thailand. This question goes to both
of you, Mr. President and Mrs. Prime Minister. You both talked about democracy
in Thailand, but my question is this: Are you both satisfied
with how democracies -- I mean, this restoration of democracy
right now in Thailand? I'm talking about the situation
that those who are responsible for 2010 crackdown is still not
pursued by laws, and usually you have these laws that criminalize
any criticism against the King very harshly, including an
American citizen -- Joe Gordon. You have many political
prisoners and recorded human rights abuse. I mean, in your opinion, I
mean, how could you call this situation satisfying? And, Mr. President, which
Thai cuisine dish is your favorite again? Could you be more specific? (laughter) Thank you, sir. Speaker:
The Prime Minister may
answer the question first. Prime Minister Shinawatra:
Okay. Let me answer the
question on democracy today. I think the destination of ours
is the stability of democracy, because democracy, we believe
that it would be fundamental of economic growth in the future. So the destination to go
with that region is that the national reconciliation. But for Thailand's situation,
I think we will stick with the principle of true democracy by
using the -- the rule of law and the due process, and make sure
that all the things will be equal and fair basis. And in Thailand, also, we aim
for -- would like to see the national reconciliation. So our position will be with the
passion, and with the peaceful way, and using the democracy
way will be the place to solve the problem. Thank you. President Obama:
Well, let me just say, first
of all, that democracy is not something that is static; it's
something that we constantly have to work on. The United States has the oldest
democracy in the world, but we constantly have to, as citizens,
work to make sure that it is working to include everybody, to
make sure that the freedoms that are in our Constitution -- the
freedom of speech, the freedom of worship -- that those
are practiced and observed. And so the work of
democracy never stops. And I think that what you're
seeing here in Thailand is a democratically-elected Prime
Minister who is committed to democracy, committed to rule
of law, committed to freedom of speech and the
press and assembly. But obviously, what's true in
Thailand, as is true in America, is that all citizens have to
remain vigilant and there's almost -- there's always
improvements to be made. And I very much congratulate the
Prime Minister on her commitment to democracy, and I know that
many of the reforms that she continues to be interested in
are ones that will strengthen democracy even further in
Thailand and will serve as a good example for
the region as a whole. In terms of Thai
cuisine, I like it all. And I've looked over the menu
for this evening's dinner and it looks very good, which is good
because I'm also very hungry. (laughter) So I think I saved my appetite,
and I'm looking forward to having some authentic Thai food. Speaker:
Thank you very much. The second question
comes from the U.S. media. I'd like to call on the
Washington Post, please. The Press:
Thank you very much. Madam Prime Minister, thank you
for hosting us with the American media as well as the rest of
the President's delegation. Mr. President, you will make
history tomorrow as the first U.S. President to visit Burma. But human rights activists
have warned that your trip is premature given the escalating
ethnic violence that have left hundreds dead and up to
100,000 people displaced in that country. Your own NSC Director for Human
Rights said the other day that people are "living
in fear and terror." Why are you moving so quickly to
endorse the Burmese leadership and reward them with
a personal visit? And given some of the recent
setbacks to democratic movements in the Middle East, why are you
so confident that Burma will continue down the
path of reform? And to the Madam Prime
Minister as well, as a U.S. ally and a neighbor of Myanmar
and Burma, are you satisfied that President Sein is doing
enough to stop the ethnic violence and protect
human rights there? And do you believe President
Obama's visit is premature or appropriately timed? Thank you. President Obama:
Well, first of all, I think it's
important to recognize, David, this is not an endorsement
of the Burmese government. This is an acknowledgement
that there's a process underway inside that country that even a
year and a half, two years ago, nobody foresaw. President Sein is taking
steps that move us in a better direction. You have Aung San Suu Kyi now
an elected member of Parliament. You've seen political
prisoners released. There is an articulated
commitment to further political reform. But I don't think anybody is
under any illusion that Burma has arrived; that they're
where they need to be. On the other hand, if we
waited to engage until they had achieved a perfect
democracy, my suspicion is we'd be waiting
an awful long time. And one of the goals of this
trip is to highlight the progress that has been made, but
also to give voice to the much greater progress that needs
to be made in the future. So when I address the Burmese
public as the first President who has ever visited that
country, what they'll hear from me is that we congratulate them
on having opened the door to a country that respects human
rights and respects political freedom, and it is -- saying
that it's committed towards a more democratic government. But what they'll also hear
is that the country has a long way to go. And I'm not somebody who thinks
that the United States should just stand on the sidelines and
not want to get its hands dirty when there is an opportunity
for us to encourage the better impulses inside a country. And, in part, I'm taking my
guidance from what Aung San Suu Kyi -- who I think knows quite a
bit about repression in Burma -- sees as the best means to
continue the development and progress that's
being made there. When she visited me in the Oval
Office, she was very encouraging of the prospects of a visit. And one of the things that we've
learned in countries around the world is that change can happen
very fast if a spotlight is shown on what's going on in a
country and the people there start believing that their
voices are heard around the world. And one of the things that
we can do as an international community is make sure that
the people of Burma know we're paying attention to them,
we're listening to them, we care about them. And this visit allows
me to do that in a fairly dramatic fashion. But we understand this is
going to be a work in progress. And what we've done is calibrate
our concrete policies and responses based on the
understanding that more work needs to be done. And if we see backsliding
and slipping, then we're in a position to
respond appropriately. But my hope is that we will
continue on a positive track, and hopefully my visit will
be able to encourage that. Prime Minister Shinawatra:
For myself, I think on the case
of the Myanmar situation -- I think now we can see that --
from my observation -- and also, I have thorough chance to visit
in Myanmar -- we see a lot of progress on the political
reform from the government. And I think from the basic that
we have been told -- I think we believe that the fundamental of
economic growth and prosperous for this is stability
of democracy. Because if people in the region
-- we believe that democracy will be the way for the country
to keep free and fair, and also reduce the gap of the people. So that's why we believe this
is the right destination. So in the case of Myanmar,
Thailand -- as our neighbor country of Myanmar. So we want to help our
neighbor with very sincerity. And truly, we want to see people
of Myanmar to have the better life, to have the better
education, to have better development if we lead from
far away and we close that gap. So I don't think we can be able
to raise up the profile of our regions -- and especially on the
year 2015 will be the year of the communities of ASEAN as one. So it is -- will be necessary
for us to work closely with Myanmar to make sure that their
political reform will come in the right track. But for us alone, I think
we need the support from international now to keep the
-- because Myanmar also already opened the door. So I think this is important for
international country to work with them, helping them, and
make sure that they reinstall -- they bring the true democracy
in term of -- the real democracy that the international law with
the practice and close the gap, and make sure that people
will have better life and better jobs. Thank you. Speaker:
Thank you very much,
Mr. President and Madam Prime Minister. The third question
goes to the Thai media. Please state your question. The Press:
Thank you, Madam Prime
Minister and Mr. President. I'm from Thai Public
Broadcasting Service. First question I'd like to ask
Mr. President: What are your priorities in your new Asia
policy, and where does Thailand fit in that policy? And to Madam Prime Minister,
what is the plan of the Thai government in pursuing
TPP with the U.S? Thank you. President Obama:
Well, when I announced our
desire to pivot and focus on the Asia Pacific region,
in part it was a response to a decade in which we
understandably, as a country, had been focused on issues
of terrorism; the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. And as a consequence, I think
we had not had the same kind of presence in a region that is
growing faster, developing faster than any place
else in the world. And we have historically been an
Asia Pacific power, and I wanted to make sure that all our
friends and partners throughout the region understood that we
see this as a central region for our growth
and our prosperity, and it's not one
that we can neglect. So in terms of my priorities
-- number one: expanding trade and investment. We believe that in working with
countries in the region, we can create more jobs and more
opportunity for our own people in the United States and
for people in the region. And obviously we already have
a strong trade and investment relationship with a country
like Thailand, but we think we can do even more. And the trade and investment
council that we've set up will further explore ways in which we
can synchronize our economies so that entrepreneurs and
businesspeople who want to trade and want to produce products,
want to take advantage of opportunities in both
countries, will have an easier time doing so. Our second priority is
maintaining the stability that allows for prosperity,
and that means that our security arrangements in the region
are extremely important. Once again, Thailand is a
central part of that as our oldest treaty ally in Asia --
one that has not only worked with us here regionally, but
also does outstanding work performing peace-keeping
activities around the world. I want to make sure that we
continue to strengthen those relationships not only for
purposes of dealing with potential security threats, but
also humanitarian responses. We've seen, in this region, a
number of devastating natural disasters, and when we have
strong cooperation and training between our countries then
we're in a stronger position to respond quickly. And Thailand I think, having
experienced its own floods, understands the
importance of this. A third area that's important
is human development. We've already discussed how
important it is for us to work together on issues of human
trafficking and forced labor. We all believe that our
countries will prosper if children are getting a good
education; if public health systems are set up to deal
with issues like HIV/AIDS, or drug-resistant malaria. Those are all issues where
countries working together can do more than countries
working by themselves. And so scientific exchanges,
medical exchanges, working together on development
issues -- all of that becomes very important. And because Thailand I think
is more successful economically than some of its neighbors,
it's now in a position to be a donor country. And for us to be able to partner
with Thailand -- for example, USAID -- working with the
Thailand -- the Thai development agency to help people in the
Mekong River area develop and be able to prosper, to
have greater food security, to deal with public health
challenges -- that's an outstanding partnership for us. And finally, I think our goal in
the region is to make sure that there is an international -- or
a regional architecture through mechanisms like the U.S./ASEAN
dialogue or the East Asia Summit that allows us to work through
tensions, conflicts, differences in a constructive way; in a way
that is -- allows us to resolve these differences in a
peaceful and orderly fashion. And I think that Thailand's
leadership in those institutions has been extraordinarily
important. So we expect to work with all
the countries in the region. But obviously the cornerstone of
our work in Asia begins with our alliances, and the long-standing
friendship between our two countries makes this a very
appropriate place for me to stop in my first trip
after my reelection. Prime Minister Shinawatra:
Thank you. For talking the TPP -- one thing
that -- we believe that on the economic growth in the future,
I think we need more growth. And the way to more growth is on
the basic of the -- economic on the free and fair basic,
and also the free market. This is -- I think, all the
other countries will have been growing off the economic and
stability of the economy, so this is very important for the
country who bring growth and who -- more the future and stability
of the economic growth. What we would like to work on
share and fair and also free market, so that's why Thailand
saw the TPP as very important for the future. But, of course, that -- I think
in the beginning, of course the concern and the readiness of the
country will be another issue that we can work parallely,
by the way, by using, like the capacity-building and also
the readiness of the things. And after that, I think we can
work along and understand -- because sometimes the benefit
would be better to invite all other countries. So it means that you have
more market, you have new market to work. So that's why we see
this is important. But along the way, we can work
with the capacity-building by the time we get ready. Thank you. Speaker:
Thank you very much. The last question goes
to Bloomberg News, please. The Press:
Thank you. I'm Margaret
Talev with Bloomberg News. Mr. President, you're here
of course to talk about Asia, but much of the world's
attention and yours is also being diverted back to
the Middle East now and the situation in Gaza. You're calling for a
de-escalation of the violence between the Israelis
and the Palestinians. I'd like to ask you, do you
believe that a movement of Israeli ground troops into Gaza
would be an escalation, and do you support such a move anyhow? And are you concerned that the
Arab Spring, at least in the near term, has
made matters worse? And does the violence there
complicate your pivot to Asia? And, Madam Prime Minister, you
may know, the President's first visit today was to the royal
monastery where he told a monk that he will need a lot
of prayer to help the U.S. avoid a fiscal crisis. It was sort of a joke
-- kind of, right? What can emerging democracies
in Asia take away from how difficult it has been for the
President to get Congress to agree to budget
negotiations with him? And why shouldn't China's
system of government look more appealing in this region when
you confront a situation like this in the U.S.? Thank you. President Obama:
Well, let me start with Gaza. Let's understand what the
precipitating event here was that's causing the current
crisis, and that was an ever-escalating number of
missiles; they were landing not just in Israeli territory,
but in areas that are populated. And there's no country on Earth
that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens
from outside its borders. So we are fully supportive of
Israel's right to defend itself from missiles landing on
people's homes and workplaces and potentially
killing civilians. And we will continue to support
Israel's right to defend itself. Now, what is also true is, is
that we are actively working with all the parties in the
region to see if we can end those missiles being fired
without further escalation of violence in the region. And so I've had several
conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I've had several conversations
with President Morsi of Egypt. I've spoken to Prime Minister
Erdogan of Turkey, who was visiting Egypt right
in the midst of what was happening in Gaza. And my message to all of them
was that Israel has every right to expect that it does not
have missiles fired into its territory. If that can be accomplished
without a ramping-up of military activity in Gaza, that's
preferable; that's not just preferable for the people of
Gaza, it's also preferable for Israelis -- because if Israeli
troops are in Gaza, they're much more at risk of incurring
fatalities or being wounded. We're going to have to see what
kind of progress we can make in the next 24, 36, 48 hours. But what I've said to President
Morsi and Prime Minister Erdogan is that those who champion the
cause of the Palestinians should recognize that if we see a
further escalation of the situation in Gaza, then the
likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that
leads to a two-state solution is going to be pushed off
way into the future. And so if we're serious
about wanting to resolve this situation and create a genuine
peace process, it starts with no more missiles being fired into
Israel's territory, and that then gives us the space to try
to deal with these longstanding conflicts that exist. In terms of the impact of the
Arab Spring, let's just remember that the exact same situation
arose just a couple of years ago, before the Arab Spring. So I don't think anybody would
suggest somehow that it's unique to democratization in the region
that there's a conflict between the Israelis and
the Palestinians. That's been going on
for several decades now. I do think that as Egyptians,
Tunisians, others have more of a voice in their government,
it becomes more important for all the players, including the
United States, to speak directly to those populations and to
deliver a message that peace is preferable to war; that this is
an issue that can be resolved if the parties are willing to sit
down and negotiate directly; that violence is not an answer;
and that there are no shortcuts to the hard work of trying
to bring about what I think is the best option -- two
states living side by side in peace and security. And that's a message that you
can't just direct at a single figure in these Arab countries;
now you've got to be able to deliver that message
across the board. And that will probably
be a little bit harder. But the truth is, is that for
any peace that was going to last, that was going
to be necessary anyway. Last point -- I know it wasn't
directed at me, it was directed at the Prime Minister, but I'm
just going to make this point. First of all, I always
believe in prayer. I believe in prayer when I go
to church back home, and if a Buddhist monk is wishing me
well, I'm going to take whatever good vibes he can give me
to try to deal with some challenges back home. I'm confident that we can get
our fiscal situation dealt with. And I think it's important to
recognize that, yes, democracy is a little messier than
alternative systems of government, but that's because
democracy allows everybody to have a voice. And that system of government
lasts, and it's legitimate, and when agreements are finally
struck, you know that nobody is being left out of
the conversation. And that's the reason for our
stability and our prosperity. And the notion somehow that you
can take shortcuts and avoid democracy, and that that somehow
is going to be the mechanism whereby you deliver
economic growth, I think is absolutely false. I think over time, when you look
at the most prosperous nations on this Earth, they are the ones
in which every individual, every citizen, feels like if they
put in the effort, if they're working hard, that those efforts
bear fruit; that a government respects them and observes rule
of law and doesn't take their property without due process;
and they don't have to pay a bribe to start a business or
get a telephone installed. And it's worked for us for over
200 years now, and I think it's going to work for Thailand
and it's going to work for this entire region. And the alternative, I think, is
a false hope that, over time, I think erodes and collapses
under the weight of people whose aspirations are not being met. I know you didn't direct that
question at me, but I just wanted to make sure the Prime
Minister didn't get put on the spot without me having
something to say about that. Prime Minister Shinawatra:
For my answer, I think I'll
talk about the basics of the economic growth. I think we still believe
that, from my statements, that democracy will
be the fundamental. I think this is still valid. But this is the one way of the
basic -- of the fundamental, because as long as you have
the stability in the political, so it will be the
stability of economic. But, anyway, in the economic,
we'll be -- have to understand the cause and the root cause of
the problem in the right way to solve the problem. And also that, as you work with
the -- stick with the principle of the financial, but along
the way you need to balance the growth of the economy. Because I think still have any
place on the blue ocean so we can -- as long as you fight the
right place and the right time. So the growth --
it's still growing. So I think that I
believe like that. Thank you. Speaker:
Thank you very much,
ladies and gentlemen. Just a final program note. The joint press statement
in English and unofficial translation in Thai will
be circulated shortly. So we thank you for
your cooperation. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Madam Prime Minister. This concludes the
joint press conference. And please be seated while the
principals leave for a very well-deserved official dinner. Thank you very much. President Obama:
Kob khun krab. Prime Minister Shinawatra:
Kob khun krab. (applause)
