This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 003111 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, INL AND S/CT 
PACOM FOR FPA HUSO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER MARR MASS TH POL MIL
SUBJECT: THAILAND-WASHINGTON STATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM ON 
SECURITY ISSUES 
 
¶1.  Summary.  The State Partnership Program (SPP) between the 
Washington State National Guard and the Royal Thai Armed 
Forces has evolved from humble beginnings addressing "niche" 
disaster response/consequence management areas to become an 
invaluable Embassy tool allowing us to advance objectives 
that have traditionally been outside normal funding 
mechanisms. Under the leadership of Major General Timothy 
Lowenberg, the Washington National Guard,s Thailand SPP has 
enabled the Embassy to link experts at U.S. federal, state, 
and local agencies with Thai counterparts to further 
initiatives that are increasing Thailand,s port security, 
improving their crisis management capabilities, establishing 
their first Air Marshal program, and developing their WMD 
rapid response system. The SPP is a relative newcomer to 
PACOM, having been first introduced in EUCOM and SOUTHCOM. 
The Chief of the National Guard Bureau hopes that PACOM SPP 
funding support may at some point increase to levels 
commensurate with other regions.  While SPP funding 
priorities are purely a DOD/PACOM issue, Post suggests that 
the SPP program in Thailand is clearly an effective model for 
addressing complex international and interagency post-9/11 
issues and offers this overview in the hopes that our 
experience may be of use to others in the region.  End 
Summary. 
 
BORN ON 9-11 
 
¶2.  The Thai delegation sent to the United States to shape 
the future of the SPP was in Crystal City on September 11, 
¶2001.  Delegates were evacuated from their meeting room after 
UA Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.  Subsequently, it was  quickly 
agreed that the Thailand SPP with Washington State would 
focus on improving Thailand's emergency response 
capabilities and assisting Thailand to deter acts of terror 
and to respond to natural disasters. 
 
¶3.  Washington State is ideally suited as a partner with 
Thailand.  Possessing one of the most advanced emergency 
response capabilities of any state, with a world class air 
and seaport and being a major source of U.S. exports to Asia, 
Washington is also home to key U.S. military units who train 
regularly in Thailand.  The Washington State Military 
Department also participates in the state's Emergency 
Management Council and it's Committee on Terrorism.  The U.S. 
and Thai SPP directors decided to draw on Washington State's 
strengths and focus on several key concerns:  port security, 
creating an air marshal system in Thailand, and helping to 
create a national crisis  management center. 
 
THE PORT SECURITY INITIATIVE 
 
¶4.  Thai officials sought U.S. assistance to improve security 
at their Laem Chabang port facility.  U.S. experts saw this 
as an opportunity to further U.S. priorities including the 
Container Security Initiative, the  Proliferation Security 
Initiative, and the Regional Maritime Security Initiative. 
In addition, given Laem  Chabang's capacity to support large 
USN ships visiting  Thailand -- including U.S. aircraft 
carriers -- making sure the port was secure would enhance our 
force protection capabilities.  Since 2004, the SPP sponsored 
numerous planning sessions, seminars, and exercises in 
Thailand and Washington State, with a wide array of Thai and 
U.S. agencies, (including DHS, ICE, TSA, and the Coast Guard) 
focused on port security.  In many cases, the SPP events were 
the only opportunity the Thai counterpart agencies ever had 
to interact as a team, and they were for the first time able 
to practice interagency port security preparation and 
response for realistic security challenges. 
 
THE AIR MARSHALL INITIATIVE 
 
¶5.  Until the SPP stepped in to assist, Thailand did not have 
an air marshal program.  In 2004, the RTG designated the 
Royal Thai Air  Force (RTAF) as executive agent to establish 
an air marshal training program that could be approved by 
U.S. Homeland Security.  Beginning in August 2004, SPP has 
funded and supported planning execution of several U.S. and 
Thai events supporting this initiative.  In 2006, SPP helped 
establish an aircraft shoot house in Bangkok to provide 
Thailand a facility in which live-fire anti-hijacking 
training in realistic mock-ups of commercial aircraft could 
be conducted. This model facility will be a valuable training 
tool not only for new Thai Air Marshals, but also for law 
enforcement officials throughout the region. 
 
¶6.  This facility is a physical embodiment of the creative 
interagency cooperation necessary to meet new post-9/11 
requirements.  The overall coordination effort was led by 
JUSMAGTHAI, the building construction was overseen by the 
U.S. Navy,s ROICC office, and it was funded by the DOD Force 
Protection Detachnment.  The initial Thai Air Marshall cadre 
training was coordinated by the TSA, funded by Thai Airways 
and SPP, and conducted by U.S. Federal Air Marshals. 
Follow-on training will be done at the INL-funded 
International Law Enforcement Academy facilities. The air 
marshal program is truly a U.S./Thai anti-hijacking 
interagency success story. 
 
NATIONAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT CENTER INITIATIVE 
 
¶7.  SPP funded U.S. experts to come to Thailand to explain 
how Washington State officials established its interagency 
crisis management system.  These exchanges helped the Thai 
National Security Council develop a nation-wide one phone 
number alert system  similar to the E911 system used in the 
United States and to simplify emergency response measures 
among Thai fire, police and other agencies.  Thailand's first 
"555"  call center will cover the 
separatist-conflict-affected areas of Yala, Naratiwat and 
Pattani in southern Thailand. 
 
CONCLUSION -- THIS WORKS 
 
¶8.  Our Embassies throughout Asia are looking for creative 
ways to bring experts from various U.S. agencies together 
with host country counterparts to address today's security 
challenges.  Our experience with the SPP with Washington 
State has been extremely positive and has fostered greater 
U.S. and Thai interagency cooperation.  This relationship 
meshes well with our ongoing efforts funded by DOD, the State 
Department, DHS and DOJ to combat terrorism, secure  commerce 
and promote interoperability.  In a time where our resources 
are stretched thinly and we are looking for ways  to maximize 
the impact of U.S. programs, the SPP is very attractive.  It 
is our hope that DOD, PACOM, Washington State and the 
National Guard Bureau will continue to support the program 
here in Thailand. 
BOYCE