Asia Pacific Defense Forum Winter 2002

Thai Marines conduct a beach assault from U.S. Marine Amphibious Assault Vehicles at Samesan Royal Thai Marine Base, Thailand.

Thai and U.S. Marines conclude a highly successful Exercise COBRA GOLD 2002 with vigorous but friendly sports day games.
Photo by SSgt. Larry A. Simmons, USAF

At a Pattaya orphanage, nearly 40 U.S. Marines and sailors delivered food supplies and money. The orphanage houses hundreds of abandoned children.

For U.S. Marine Cpl. Matthew Scott, who was born in Thailand and adopted from the Pattaya Orphanage by a U.S. Army family when he was four years old, the trip to Thailand was the first time he had seen his place of birth. "It makes me feel pretty good to finally come back here and find out where exactly I came from. It’s really a lot different than America. Everyone here just seems to be having a good time. I really like it."

Cpl. Scott met his birth mother, Miss Tom Horn-Ngam of Thailand, his younger sister, cousin, and aunt for the first time in a tearful reunion at an aircraft hanger at Utapao Navy Base. When asked how she felt about her son being a U.S. Marine, "I am very proud," said Miss Horn-Ngam.

Conclusion

COBRA GOLD 2002 was successful in strengthening the already strong ties between the Armed Forces of Thailand, Singapore, and the United States.

Midway through the two-week exercise, Adm. Yuthavong Narong, Royal Thai Armed Forces Supreme Commander, said, "The exercise has been going very smoothly and many objectives have now been accomplished."

Commenting on the importance of COBRA GOLD to regional security during a Utapao Naval Air Station press conference, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, said:

- The U.S.-Thai alliance is the bedrock of our regional security, and our peaceful development in the region. I’d like to thank Thailand for the help [it has] provided in the global war on terrorism and a large array of other regional security initiatives.

- I think the security environment here in the Pacific is both bilateral and multilateral. We have longstanding bilateral agreements and arrangements that have been the foundation of security here for many, many years. I think we also recognize . . . our ability to deal with a great number of transnational threats will require a multilateral approach, and exercises like COBRA GOLD will allow us the capability to do just that.