For nearly three quarters of a century, Thailand and the United States have maintained one of the Indo-Pacific’s most enduring and strategically valuable security alliances.
The relationship was codified in the 1954 Manila Pact, formally known as the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, and given new impetus under the bilateral 1962 Thanat–Rusk Communiqué, reaffirming the U.S.’s commitment. Since then, Thai-U.S. defense cooperation has evolved into a dynamic partnership that adapts to evolving regional and global security landscapes.
FORUM, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, has chronicled the allies’ shared commitment to regional stability.
The Thai-U.S. alliance is built on three pillars: mutual defense commitments, interoperability, and a shared vision for a secure, free and prosperous Indo-Pacific. The nations have repeatedly demonstrated the partnership’s operational value, yielding benefits across such key security areas as counterterrorism, humanitarian response and joint force readiness.
Among the most notable achievements is the annual Cobra Gold exercise, first conducted in 1982. Initially a bilateral amphibious training drill, it has evolved into one of the world’s largest multinational military exercises.
“We have expanded the scope of military operations to address the full spectrum of threats across all domains … aimed at promoting collaboration to enhance regional stability,” Gen. Songwit Noonpackdee, the Royal Thai Armed Forces defense chief, said during the 2024 iteration.
Cobra Gold includes dozens of nations and thousands of troops, encompassing live-fire drills, cyber defense scenarios, humanitarian civic assistance projects and complex command-post simulations. The exercise is not only a proving ground for interoperability between Thai and U.S forces but also a platform for integrating capabilities with partners such as Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. Cobra Gold reinforces the leading role of Thailand and the U.S. in shaping the region’s security architecture.
Cobra Gold “affirms the enduring Thai and U.S. security partnership and is a pillar of our commitment to the region,” Robert F. Godec, U.S. ambassador to Thailand, said during the 2025 opening ceremony.
“We share a goal in this region: to prevent war by remaining ready together,” noted Gen. Ronald P. Clark, commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific. “Cobra Gold is about our partnerships.”
After the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., Thai-U.S. cooperation expanded into counterterrorism and maritime security. Joint training between special operations forces strengthened Bangkok’s capacity to respond to terrorist threats in its southern provinces and to contribute to multinational maritime interdiction. The allies also collaborate through the Proliferation Security Initiative, which was launched in 2003 to stop the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, and conduct regular patrols to safeguard vital shipping lanes in the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea.
Thailand has also played a key role in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Darfur, South Sudan and Timor-Leste, which underscores the alliance’s global relevance.
After the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, U.S. forces rapidly deployed to U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, which became the hub for multinational disaster response, enabling delivery of food, water and medical aid to affected nations from Indonesia to Sri Lanka. Similarly, during floods in Thailand in 2011, U.S. military personnel worked with local authorities to provide engineering support, water-purification capabilities and aerial reconnaissance to assist in disaster mitigation.
In recent decades, Thailand and the U.S. have enhanced defense cooperation to meet emerging threats such as cyber intrusions, space security, pandemics and resource instability. For example, they help build security capacity across the Mekong River region and have led training in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to improve maritime domain awareness, law enforcement coordination and humanitarian response to bolster regional stability and deter coercion.
Initiatives such as the U.S.-Thailand Strategic Dialogue and the Joint Vision Statement for the Thai-U.S. Defense Alliance, signed in 2020, outline a road map for integrating next-generation technologies, expanding domain awareness, and enhancing joint command and control systems. The U.S.-Thailand Communiqué on Strategic Alliance and Partnership, signed in 2022, further strengthened the alliance.
The Thai-U.S. alliance is a framework for joint action in peace, crisis and conflict. From cooperative exercise leadership to humanitarian response and maritime interdiction, the defense partnership remains a stabilizing force and strategic enabler.
