[Australia]: Message to Thailand [SEC=PROTECTED]

[Owen]

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MINISTER FOR VETERANS' AFFAIRS​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: PROTECTED​

20 April 2007

Dear Minister Lertchoosakul, As you may be aware, during the Second World War, Thailand had allied itself with Japan and as a result was at war with Australia. One of Australia's first acts of foreign affairs independence from the United Kingdom was to sign a peace treaty with Thailand in 1946. However the memories of that brutal conflict still weigh on the minds of the veterans who served, particularly the 13,000 who were forced to work on the Burma Railway between Bangkok and Thanbyuzayat as Prisoners of War. 2,815 Australians lost their lives building that railway. One brutal section of that construction was in an area called Hellfire Pass, where Australian and New Zealand POWs were forced to cut their way through a mountain to build the railway line. Today, the Hellfire Pass Interpretative Centre remains there, operated by the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs. As we approach Anzac Day this year, I would like to make it possible that, despite the relations between our two nations, that I be able to visit Hellfire Pass and the Interpretative Centre and that we may be able to have a commemorative service alongside the veterans who served. The Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, has also expressed interest in joining me on this visit. As my job as Minister in charge of the Department responsible for the Interpretative Centre, I would also like to have reassurances from the Thai Government that it can remain there. Yours sincerely, Col. (ret.) The Honourable Dr. Mike Kelly, MP.

Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700​

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Bossza007

 

[Bossza007]

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To: <Col. (ret.) The Honourable Dr. Mike Kelly, MP., Minister of Veterans' Affairs of the Commonwealth of Australia> Owen From: <Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Thailand> Subject: - Security Type: NSST Architecture 1.5 | Secret and Encrypted

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Dear Mike Kelly,

Thank you for your correspondence to my office as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Thailand. The Thai fascist government during the Second World War indeed aligned itself with imperialist Japan and declared war on the Allied nations. The Confederal Government is aware of the history of the Burma Railway, in which its construction involved the mass slavery and forced labor of the prisoners of war in the Southeast Asian theater. The gravity and audacity of such a regime, led by a military dictator who was complicit in preventing a democratic transition to socialism in Thailand in 1933, could never have been forgotten nor forgiven.

The Australian Government has all the approvals and authorization from provincial and local governments to visit Hellfire Pass and the Interpretative Centre alongside holding a commemorative services for its veterans. The Confederal Government will provide a team of coordinators and facilitators for the Australian officials and its veterans as they visit the site of historical significance.​

Sincerely,

Kanokrat Lertchoosakul
Minister of Foreign Affiars
Confederal Government
Socialist Republic of Thailand

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Digital Diplomatic Communication​