VZCZCXRO2199
PP RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0166/01 3090217
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040217Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0876
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0951

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000166 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EAP/PD, EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO SCUL PREL BEXP OEXC
SUBJECT: NEW CONSULATE OPENS IN NORTHERN THAILAND 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000166  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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Summary and Comment 
----------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Consul General and five staff engaged in "soft diplomacy" 
while operating as "ConGen Chiang Rai" during a two-day road 
show to the city October 29-30.  Based at the brand new Le 
Meridien Hotel - which is managed by the U.S. firm Starwood - CG 
hosted a reception and U.S. wine promotion for 80 local 
Americans and Chiang Rai community leaders.  CG also visited a 
secondary school and hospital that American missionaries founded 
over a century ago.  At the former, he addressed 700 students 
and faculty about the 175th anniversary of U.S.-Thai relations. 
CG held a one-hour Thai-language interview with three dozen TV, 
radio and print journalists; partnered with the EducationUSA 
advisory network to hold two outreach events promoting 
higher-education opportunities in the U.S.; and hosted a lunch 
with recent International Visitor alumni.  Lastly, CG visited 
the New Life Center to deliver books donated by the Ambassador's 
wife to teenage hill tribe girls sheltered and educated there. 
Throughout the two days, staff provided consular services to 
local American citizens. 
 
¶2.  Comment.  "ConGen Chiang Rai" encountered highly receptive 
audiences at every event.  The two-day road show to northern 
Thailand's second-largest city advanced our Mission Strategic 
Goal of promoting deeper understanding of the U.S. and its role 
in the world, especially among younger Thais.  Our public 
encounters allowed us encourage a better understanding of 
democracy among the local populace, and to share ideas about 
American culture and society.  Moreover, our message highlighted 
the wide-range of Mission efforts supporting issues important to 
the Thai Government and people.  We plan to take our road show 
to Lampang in Spring 2009.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Soft Diplomacy in the North's "Second City" 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶3.  We selected Chiang Rai as the venue for our two-day road 
show given its status as northern Thailand's second-largest 
province (1.3 million people, including a significant ethnic 
minority population).  Chiang Rai's size makes it a political 
heavyweight in the region, with eight seats in the national 
parliament.  For three straight elections dating back to 2001, 
all eight seats have been swept by the governing People's Power 
Party and its Thai Rak Thai antecedent.  Economically, Chiang 
Rai holds promise as Thailand's gateway to the Greater Mekong 
Subregion and its growing trade flows to and from China via 
neighboring Laos and Burma. 
 
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-------------------- 
Outreach, Business Promotion Among Community Leaders, Local 
Americans 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  We staged "ConGen Chiang Rai" out of the brand new Le 
Meridien hotel, which is managed by Starwood, a U.S. company. 
We were in fact the hotel's very first overnight guests, and 
helped put the property on the local map by drawing about 80 
American and Thai guests to a reception there the evening of 
October 29.  CG addressed the guests, who included the city's 
mayor and the president Chiang Rai's leading university, by 
highlighting the century-old links between Americans and Chiang 
Rai as well as this year's 175th anniversary of U.S.-Thai 
relations.  Guests visited a promotional corner decorated with 
U.S. flags, posters and brochures.  Guests also were served 
"Peter Vella" wine from California that is imported by 
Thailand's Siam Winery. 
 
¶5.  During both days of the road show, "ConGen Chiang Rai" 
provided consular services to American citizens in the area, who 
comprise a sizeable portion of the over 7,000 Americans resident 
in our northern Thailand consular district. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
Promoting Educational Opportunity in the U.S. 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶6.  Several road show activities focused on educational 
opportunities in the U.S.  At the Chiang Rai Wittayakhom School, 
founded by American missionaries in 1888, CG spoke in Thai to 
700 students and faculty about study programs in the U.S., and 
described how educational exchanges have been a central part of 
the 175 years of U.S.-Thai relations.  CG and staff then visited 
Overbrook Hospital, also founded by American missionaries over a 
century ago. 
 
¶7.  We also partnered with the Thailand office of EducationUSA, 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000166  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
a State Department-funded educational advisory network, for two 
outreach events promoting higher-education opportunities in the 
U.S.  One event was held at Chiang Rai's most prominent 
secondary school, the Samakkhee Wittayakhom School.  There the 
CG kicked off an EducationUSA advisory session with about 50 
students, faculty, and guidance counselors from four area 
schools.  In his remarks, CG noted that Thailand ranks ninth in 
the world in terms of the number of foreign students who pursue 
studies in the U.S.  CG and staff also visited an EducationUSA 
promotional booth at the Chiang Rai branch of Thailand's 
American University Alumni Association, which provides 
English-language training for Thais and Thai-language training 
for Americans and other foreigners. 
 
----------------- 
Meet the Press 
----------------- 
 
¶8.  A keynote event of the road show was CG's one-hour 
Thai-language interview with over 30 TV, radio and print 
journalists.  The journalists included stringers from several 
national newspapers and the Chiang Rai affiliates of four 
national television stations as well as Radio Thailand.  CG 
opened the session with remarks about the purpose and goals of 
the two-day road show, and highlighted the 175th anniversary of 
U.S.-Thai relations as well as the upcoming U.S. presidential 
elections.  During the Q-and-A session that followed, CG 
commented on the U.S. electoral process, the impact of the U.S. 
presidential elections on our Asia policy, the global financial 
crisis, Thailand's domestic political crisis, U.S.-Thai 
counternarcotics cooperation, U.S. policy toward Burma, and U.S. 
diplomatic objectives and operations in northern Thailand. 
 
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Support for Vulnerable Populations 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  We concluded our two-day road show with two events that 
highlighted USG support for NGOs engaged in combating 
trafficking in persons (TIP).  CG hosted a lunch with four 
recent International Visitor alumni, three of whom had visited 
the U.S. on anti-TIP programs.  CG and staff also visited the 
New Life Center to deliver books donated by the Ambassador's 
wife to teenage hill tribe girls sheltered and educated there. 
The Center, a registered NGO that was founded in 1987 by 
American Baptist missionaries, shelters about 60 female hill 
tribe teens who are at-risk for or have experienced labor 
exploitation.  The Center also offers educational opportunities 
to these young women, who have little or no previous formal 
schooling. 
MORROW