US Use of Airport in Thailand for Scientific Research Encounters Opposition: Hidden Agenda Suspected

According to a report by CNR Voice of China, the U.S. space agency NASA plans to rent Thailand’s U-Tapao Naval Airport for “cloud and climate research.” Sections of the Thai media suspect the American undertaking of having a hidden agenda.

The issue arises from NASA’s plans to use the Thai navy’s U-Tapao Airport for “cloud and climate research.” Thailand’s Parliament has not yet approved the project. However, there are reports that U.S. equipment has already been moved to U-Tapao. Thailand’s largest opposition party, the Democrat Party, requested a few days ago that the government respond and release details about the project. The Thai government did not provide an immediate answer. Media reports indicate that a government spokesperson previously asserted that the Cabinet has the authority to make its own decision on the issue without seeking parliamentary approval, and that it plans to make the final decision at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow (the 26th).

Since news about negotiations between NASA and the Thai government over the lease of U-Tapao Airport was released, several countries have questioned the “purely scientific nature” of the project. This is because the U.S. has sent an ER-2 high-altitude Earth science aircraft, which is derived from the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance plane (or spy plane), to participate in the operation.

In Thailand, Democrat Party spokesperson Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said that the plane could operate at an altitude of 21 km, thus avoiding radar detection. Additionally, Thailand’s The Nation revealed in a report that the ER-2 will use remote sensing to link signals between satellites, lower-flying aircraft and surface radar. The same report claimed that, “The area of operations may extend to China and Russia, while information could be transmitted from the satellites to the U.S. base and also to U.S. warships in the Asia-Pacific.” If that is the case, then the amount of controversy raised over the issue should not come as a surprise.