additional appropriations for newly developed OV-10s, used in forward air control work (target spotting) by U.S forces in South Vietnam and Thailand These and other U.S. "advisory" activities in Thailand are likely to continue after U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, as they are aimed at maintaining a regime favourable to U.S investors. The situation was put plainly in the March 6 Far Eastern Economic Review, whose Bangkok correspondent wrote that the U.S. community in Bangkok does not like criticism by U.S journalists of Thai officials since "the investment climate is good because the government, whose interests at present are aligned with the U.S., is in control."
Shortly before the construction of U.S. bases and the influx of troops began, U. Alexis Johnson, the U.S ambassador, now an Under Secretary of State, asserted that "Thailand presents an opportunity for American capital to demonstrate what private enterprise can accomplish." Since that statement in 1960, U.S. investments have grown eightfold, from $25 to $200 million, and the U.S. share of the Thai market has grown from 16.7% to more than 37%.
U.S. investors and Thai merchants have a community of interest which a high U.S. Department of