REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSH AND PRIME MINISTER SAMAK OF THAILAND

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary(Bangkok,
Thailand)______________________________________________________________For
Immediate Release August 6, 2008

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSHAND PRIME MINISTER SAMAK OF THAILAND

Government HouseBangkok, Thailand 7:51 P.M. (Local)

PRIME MINISTER SAMAK: We are pleased to welcome President Bush visit
to Thailand on the auspicious occasion of the celebration of 175th
anniversary of Thai-U.S. relations. As Thailand has now assumed the
ASEAN chairmanship, we will use the opportunity to strengthen our
engagement and cooperation with the U.S. both bilaterally and through
ASEAN. President Bush and I had just a very good discussion on several
issues of common interest. We discussed the strengthening of the
close military and the security cooperation which benefit both
countries and the region. A case in point is our military close
partnership during the tsunami and post-Cyclone Nargis to facilitate
access of American relief and assistance to the effected countries. We
will continue our discussion on the other regional issues over the
dinner this evening. President Bush expressed his appreciation for
Thailand's humanitarian role in sheltering displaced persons from
neighboring countries for over 30 years. I also thanked the President
for the United States' understanding on the Preah Vihear issue. We
agreed to enhance the Thai-U.S. relation by focusing on education,
public health, sciences, security and law enforcement cooperation.
Our two countries share a long and special connection. President Bush
-- former President Bush Senior and Mrs. Barbara Bush came to Thailand
to pay tribute to His Majesty the King on the occasion of the 60th
anniversary of accession to the throne in December 2006. Looking
towards the future we agreed that our alliance and friendship will
remain firm and close as in the past 174 years, we need to continue
working closely together to further strengthen our relationship and
goodwill for the benefit of our two countries and the region.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. Sawtdee Khrab.
(Laughter.) Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for welcoming Laura and me,
and our daughter, Barbara, to your beautiful country. I want to thank
you very much for welcoming us on behalf of His Majesty the King and
Her Majesty the Queen. We appreciate the opportunity to come back,
and we honor the friendship that has been in existence for 175 years.
I want to thank you very much for being such a strong ally in the war
against terror. Our nations are strengthening our security and
defense cooperation. Thailand continues to host Cobra Gold, which is
one of the largest annual multilateral training exercises in Southeast
Asia. Thailand's troops have helped the people of Iraq and Afghanistan
as they battle extremists and strengthen their democracy, and I want
to thank you for those contributions, Mr. Prime Minister. America and
Thailand are coordinating our law enforcement, counterterrorism and
counter-proliferation activities so we can do a better job of
protecting our citizens from danger. The United States and Thailand
are working to expand freedom with good governance. I want to thank
you very much and congratulate the people of Thailand for restoring
its democracy. Through the Asia Pacific Democracy Partnership, our
nations are working together to strengthen democratic values and
institutions throughout the region. As the Chair of ASEAN, we support
your efforts to reduce trade barriers, and to expand economic
opportunity, and help Southeast Asia grow in hope. The United States
and Thailand work together to fight disease. I don't think our
citizens understand this, Mr. Prime Minister, but we've dedicated $35
million to help prevent and treat HIV/AIDS here in Thailand, and we're
happy to do so. Looking forward to going tomorrow to the clinic where
we get to see the efforts of the initiative, it's called the Mercy
Center -- and I appreciate you arranging that for me to go see, Mr.
Prime Minister. We're also working on avian flu. I think it's very
important for our nations to prepare for the worst. Obviously, we're
hoping for the best. And so we've got a good, strong initiative on
avian flu. We're working together to help the people of Burma. We
responded very quickly when Burma was struck by the terrible cyclone,
and I want to thank you very much for your leadership on that issue.
After all, yours was the place where much of the world aid came to be
distributed to the poor people there that were deeply affected by the
storm. We want to see prosperity and freedom restored to Burma.
Tomorrow, Laura is going to the Thai-Burmese border to visit a
resettlement camp where Burmese refugees are receiving health care and
humanitarian aid. She's looking forward to the trip, and I'm looking
forward to hearing her report from the trip. So Mr. Prime Minister, I
want to thank you very much for your hospitality. I want to thank you
for feeding my delegation. (Laughter.) We're looking forward to
eating some good Thai food