Thailand Officially Recognizes Palestine

[PeteC]

Thailand recognizes Palestinian state

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-thai ... 50684.html

Thailand said Thursday that it has recognized a Palestinian state, in a move hailed by Palestinian leaders eager to boost their international standing amid a stalemate with Israel

Thailand has "officially recognized the state of Palestine and officially informed all permanent and observer missions to the United Nations in New York of this development," a press officer for Thailand's mission said.

In Ramallah, a Palestinian foreign ministry official told AFP that Thailand was recognizing the state along the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War.

"Thailand's recognition of a Palestinian state is the first of the New Year 2012 and is a new achievement for Palestinian diplomacy," Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki told the official news agency WAFA.

Maliki said the announcement brought to 131 the number of countries that recognize a Palestinian state along 1967 lines.

Thailand recognized Israel in 1954 and has historically maintained friendly relations with the Jewish state. The kingdom is a major Israeli vacation destination and the countries have cooperated in agriculture and other areas.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in a statement thanked Thailand for the move and said that procedures would begin to establish diplomatic relations.

"President Mahmud Abbas thanks Thailand's king and government for its official recognition of the Palestinian state," the Abbas statement said.

Thai foreign ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said the recognition "has been under consideration for some time".

"We felt that now was an appropriate time to proceed with the recognition of the state of Palestine, which was done earlier this week," he told AFP.

He said the move was unrelated to the recent charging of a Lebanese man suspected of planning an attack in Bangkok, who had alleged links to the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Muslim Shiite group Hezbollah.

The suspect was detained based on intelligence provided by Israel, according to Thai officials, and the United States and Israel both warned their citizens of a terrorist threat in the Thai capital.

The Palestinians have sought to boost their international recognition as negotiations with Israel remain stalled over the issue of settlement construction.

In 2011, they won recognition from a slew of countries, as well as membership at the UN cultural agency, UNESCO.

They also presented a bid to join the United Nations as a full member, but Washington threatened a veto and urged negotiations, saying that only a political settlement with Israel would result in a state.

[PeteC]

Sounds like hedging their bets trying to get the terrorists lurking in Bangkok to play nice. Announcement on Thursday is quite a coincidence considering the recent terror warnings and activities.

[MrPlum]

Sounds like hedging their bets trying to get the terrorists lurking in Bangkok to play nice. Announcement on Thursday is quite a coincidence considering the recent terror warnings and activities.

Lol. I almost posted the same thing but decided I'd get murdered.

Bravo to Thailand. Glad to see there are no Thai 'Friends of Israel' keeping their politicians in bondage.

[PeteC]

This story is too big to be tacked onto the end of the "Embassy" thread. I picked it up on Yahoo News this morning and as of 1900 hours Thai time there is not a whisper of it in the BKP or Nation.

As HHF says, the timing is incredible, and suspect as far as I'm concerned. It indeed could be that the recent rush to terror warnings by the US Embassy was a slap to Thailand knowing that this announcement was coming? So many questions and thoughts:

1) Was this in the works during the previous Democratic government?

2) If not, are we seeing steps by Thaksin to smack those who did not support him after the coup?

3) Is the recent change in Burma a part of this knowing that if the US gears down its relationship with Thailand because of this, they stand to benefit?

4) Has Thailand decided that a military and economic alliance with the US and other Western countries is not needed any longer? Do they think they can go it alone, or linked to China...Thaksin's good friend? We should remember that Singapore is Thaksin's model for what he wants(ed) Thailand to be like. Lee Kuan Yew seemed to be his idol when he was PM. Singapore is only a few steps away from being governed like China.

4) Is it a step to try to solve Thailand's southern Muslim problem?

Boggles my mind at present to be honest. Let's see if Voranai talks about it this Sunday, but not much time to publish....maybe next Sunday. Pete

[parbeau]

Agree with Mr Plum. Bravo to Thailand. Refreshing to see that a country has the courage to act independently and stand up for the terrorized, harassed and tormented palestinian people!

[PeteC]

I don't believe that anything happens in this world today at the levels we're talking about without a hidden agenda being involved. This IMO is not just Thailand doing the "right thing" as it were. It's either about the south and perhaps a breakthrough coming if this was implemented, or there has been a serious falling out behind the scenes with the US since Phua Thai has come into power.

This is the first time I can remember in 40 years that Thailand hasn't followed the US party line on a major international issue like this. Let's see what the coming months reveal. Pete

[parbeau]

This is the first time I can remember in 40 years that Thailand hasn't followed the US party line on a major international issue like this.

Exactly what I mean.... What nations act in foreign policy issues without asking Big Brother first??

[STEVE G]

If it's connected to the alleged Hezbollah bomb plot, you can almost see their point.
The actions of other countries against Iran, which supposedly triggered that plot, are nothing to do with Thailand and indeed it would be hard to see a scenario where Iran would be any danger to Thailand, so why would they want to side with other countries meddlings in the Middle East?