Bangkok--26 Mar--ScottAsia Communications
To celebrate 175 years of U.S.-Thailand diplomatic relations, United Airlines is offering a free upgrade to United Business? to customers purchasing full fare United Economy? roundtrip tickets to the U.S. purchased in Thailand. The offer is being sold until May 20, 2008 only with return travel to be completed by May 31, 2008. The upgrade applies to the Tokyo-USA-Tokyo part of the journey only. Other terms and conditions apply.*
“Thailand and the U.S. have enjoyed a resilient relationship since they signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce on March 20, 1833,” said United’s acting general manager for Thailand, Mr Joe Mannix. “United would like to recognize this shared history by offering a generous upgrade for passengers.”
In the year of the treaty, 1833, the world was a different place. Britain abolished slavery in its overseas colonies, but set foot in Burma. In Europe, Alfred Nobel was born. Athens was established as the Greek capital. Germany’s telegraph wire had stretched to two miles. A newspaper cost a penny in New York and the HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board reached Patagonia.
American merchant ships began calling on Bangkok in the 1820s to sell hardware, cotton goods and arms and load sugar and timber. Seeing the potential in a relationship with Siam, as the kingdom was then called, U.S. President Andrew Jackson sent America’s first envoy, Edmund Roberts, who was granted an audience by King Rama III. The visit concluded with the 1833 treaty, the United States’ first official diplomatic act in Asia.
The second U.S. mission arrived in 1850, and in 1856 the U.S. appointed its first Consul to Siam, Rev Stephen Mattoon, who signed the Harris Treaty to further open trade between the two countries.
During the U.S. Civil War, King Mongkut wrote to President James Buchanan offering elephants for his military effort. The correspondence was received by President Abraham Lincoln, who politely turned it down, stating horses were better suited to American terrain.
Later in the 19th century, the U.S. appointed its first Consul-General to Siam, John A Halderman, and Siam reciprocated, naming Prince Prisdang Jumsai as its Minister to the U.S., residing in London. In 1884, Prince Nares Warariddhi became the kingdom’s first diplomat to visit the U.S., and was received as the Siamese Mission by President Chester A Arthur.
Thai-U.S. relations took another step forward in 1920, when the two countries signed a treaty abolishing extraterritoriality for Americans and easing trade. Seven years later Thailand’s present king HM King Bhumipol was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The relationship between the two countries was tested during World War II, when Japanese troops occupied Thailand, which eventually declared war against the U.S. However, Thailand’s Minister in Washington, M.R. Seni Pramoj, announced his legation was independent of the ruling government, and the U.S. refused to recognize the war declaration.
The country’s leaders have met several times in recent decades. Prime Minister Field Marshal Pibulsonggram visited the U.S. in 1955 and President Richard M Nixon came to Bangkok in 1969. Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan met President Bush during his official visit to the U.S. in 1990 and President Bill Clinton visited Thailand during the 50th anniversary of HM King Bhumipol’s accession to the throne.
As the two countries embark on the new Millennium, their ties are as strong as ever. Join United in celebrating the 175-year anniversary of Thai-U.S. relations and fly United’s Business? to the U.S. on a full fare economy class ticket during this celebration. Remember, tickets must be issued by May 20, 2008 with return travel completed by May 31, 2008.