American merchant ships had been calling at Bangkok [Krung Thep (City of Angels)] occasionally to sell arms, hardware, and cotton goods and to load sugar and timber since 1818. The objective of Roberts' mission was to place the United States of America on a basis of equality with other nations trading in Siam. He met with little difficulty in negotiating a treaty with the Siamese Ministers of State, since he made no demands for extraterritorial rights, or limits on import duties. Siam was the first country in the Far East with which the United States entered into treaty relations. It is noteworthy that this 1833 treaty was signed twenty-one years before the Treaty of Kanagawa opened relations between Japan and America. 

However, during the presidency of Zachary Taylor, negotiations between Thailand and the United States were conducted toward a new treaty. These ended without any result. 

On May 1, 1856, businessman Townsend Harris, as U.S. envoy for President Franklin Pierce, had an audience with King Mongkut (Rama IV). Following successful negotiations, he signed a Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation on May 29, 1856, containing provisions for United States' rights of extraterritoriality and replacing the treaty of 1833. A missionary, Stephen Matoon, was appointed the first United States Consul to Bangkok. (Harris later negotiated the first trade treaty between Japan and the United States.) 

As one of the Allies in World War I, Siam signed the Treaty of Versailles, and became a charter member of the League of Nations in 1919. 

A year later, Norman Davis, as acting Secretary of State, signed a new treaty and protocol on December 18, 1920, replacing the unequal treaty of 1856. The Siamese legal system had been thoroughly modernized during King Chulalongkorn's (Rama V) reign, obviating the need for rights of extraterritoriality. This treaty, successfully negotiated with (Democratic) President Woodrow Wilson, was ratified by the United States Senate, King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), and newly elected (Republican) President Warren G. Harding. Thus, the Siam - United States treaty of 1920 became the pattern for revision of unequal treaties with other Western countries. 

Worldwide economic depression starting in 1929 severely affected Siam. The Baht had been tied to the British Pound which became devalued by one-third when Britain went off the gold standard. In 1932 Siam adopted its first constitution and King Rama VII became the first Siamese constitutional monarch. Under this new system of governance, Siam opened negotiations in 1936 in an attempt to obtain identical bilateral treaties with all trading partners to achieve equality on a basis of equity, reciprocity, justice, and mutual interests. The United States was approached first, having set a good example in 1920, and signed a new bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation on November 13, 1937. By establishing equitable treaties with practically all Western Powers, Siam, redesignated as Thailand, gained full international status by 1939.

At the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, Thailand declared her neutrality. Thailand had no effective military forces, but initially fought the Japanese incursion, then was forced by circumstances to accede to their demands. A Free Thai Movement was established in the United States and worked closely with the Allies as well as with the Thai government to restore peace to the country and the region. 

The present sovereign, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and educated in Switzerland, acceded to the throne in 1946 at eighteen years of age. Thailand was admitted as the fifty-fifth member of the United Nations, and was among the first to send troops to join the United Nations forces in the Korean War. An Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement and a military assistance agreement were signed with the U.S. in 1950. When the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed in 1954 as a result of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty (Manila Pact), its headquarters was located in Bangkok. (The Organization was dissolved in 1977.) The Manila Pact remains in force along with the Thanat-Rusk Communique of 1962, plus a 1963 Special Logistics Agreement Thailand (SLAT), providing a basis for U.S. security commitment. Currently in effect, the May 29, 1966 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations replaced the treaty of 1937. A 1971 memorandum of understanding affirmed Thai-American cooperation in eradication of illicit narcotics and dangerous drugs. Thailand is also a signatory to numerous multilateral treaties and other agreements governing international conduct.

Thailand in 1996 has a population of 61 million living in the country of approximately the same size as France. For the past ten years, Thailand's economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, has grown on average 8.2% a year. This year the anticipated growth rate is 8.5%, and forecasts call for sustained growth of between 7% and 8% a year for the next ten years. Per capita GDP has been growing even faster, at an average annual increase of 22% between the years 1985 and 1995. It is also projected that by 2000 the Thai economy, measured in terms of purchasing power parity, will be No. 8 in the world. In this economic context, the United States and Thailand have been close allies and trading partners. The United States has been one of Thailand's top three largest trading partners for several years. In the year 1995, the two-way trade between Thailand and the United States was valued over US$ 20 billion, with approximately 17% increase per year. This made Thailand the No.17 trading partner of the United States in 1995, moving up from No. 20 in 1994. In 1994, the United States also became Thailand's largest investor, with about US$ 3 billion in direct investment in Thailand. Thailand will continue to present great opportunities for American business in the last years of this century and into the 21st century.

In the 21st century, Thailand will continue to be an important economic and trading partner of the United States. The United States and Thailand are both founding members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, whose membership is drawn from both sides of the Pacific Ocean and whose goal is to achieve freer trade in the Asia-Pacific region. Thailand and the United States will continue to work together, through APEC and the World Trade Organization (WTO), for global trade liberalization. 

Besides APEC and the WTO, Thailand belongs to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. By 2010, the entire ASEAN region is projected to have the combined population of 650 million people with the combined GDP of over US$ 1 trillion. With the ASEAN Free Trade Area, or AFTA, ASEAN will reduce tariff rates of non-agricultural products trade among ASEAN members to 0-5% by 2003.
 

---

Last Update : January 1997