[Australia]: Message to Thailand [SEC=TOP SECRET]

[Owen]

​

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET (ENCRYPTED)​

20 April 2004

Dear Mr. Sathirathai, Recently your National Intelligence Agency took to Twitter to accuse the Australian Government, particularly the Department of Finance, of engaging in a misinformation campaign. The Australian Government must take protest with such a move on the basis that it is unprofessional for an agency of the Thai Government to make such an announcement on a social media platform and to not inform the Australian Government directly that they were taking issue with that matter and to resolve it or come to an understanding through the proper channels. Furthermore, it jeopardises the relationship that we have worked hard to build on over the past few months. I suggest your Cabinet gets a handle on their intelligence chiefs before they do anymore damage to the relationship. Yours sincerely, Kevin Rudd.

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

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Bossza007

 

[Bossza007]

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To: <Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia; CC: Kevin Rudd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia> Owen From: <Sarabun@mfa.mail.go.th> Subject: Australian Diplomatic Compliant Security Type: NSST 1.0 Architecture

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To the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia,

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Thailand acknowledges receipt of the communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia. Your esteemed Department's diplomatic complaint has been duly noted and thoroughly considered.

Thailand wishes to address the apparent misunderstanding within the Australian Government concerning our national intelligence apparatus and the fundamental role of a free press in fostering a vibrant democratic society. While we appreciate the diplomatic tone in which your concerns were raised, we categorically refute any implication of responsibility for the alleged incident originating from misconceptions within your jurisdiction.

In order to prevent any recurrence of such misunderstandings, we are committed to providing clarifications grounded in factual discourse. Following comprehensive analysis, incorporating intelligence shared by the Empire of France, the Kingdom of Poland, and corroborative data from the World Bank, it has been affirmed that Australia's economic stability is in a precarious state, accompanied by a decline in living standards and a surge in domestic crime rates.

While Thailand values the longstanding diplomatic ties between our nations, it is incumbent upon us to remind Australia of its failure to engage in proactive diplomatic outreach toward Thailand. Moreover, the pattern of disregarding our Ministry's communications on multiple occasions is regrettably noted. It is our belief that the appropriate terminology refers to the relationship painstakingly cultivated by Thailand with Australia.

Sincerely,

Surakiart Sathirathai
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Thailand

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Digital Diplomatic Communication​

 

[Owen]

​

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET (ENCRYPTED)​

20 April 2004

Dear Mr. Sathirathai, Your concerns about Australia's economy are noted, however it is not the role of the Thai Government to make commentary of or raise concerns about the decisions of the Australian Government in regards to its budgetary decisions or of the nation's overall economic situation. No member of the Australian Government has ever passed commentary on Thailand's budget decisions or economic situation or any nation for that matter because to do so would be unprofessional. Whilst there may have been a lack of communication between Australia and Thailand recently, we have built the relationship further than from where we started. I understand that the Thai Government may feel frustrated that things are not moving at a rapid pace, matters like this take time and we will not become allies overnight. These things take years. Myself and the Minister for Trade are extremely busy at the moment, meeting with counterparts in Korea and China and so I must come back to matters in regards to developing our relationship with Thailand at a later date. There are many other nations in the region and in the world that Australia has an interest in developing relationships with, it is not just Thailand. Some patience would go a long way, but being destructive and causing unnecessary damage to the relationship because it is not moving along fast enough makes no sense to me and so I suggest you change this course immediately. I am confused by your second paragraph, the National Intelligence Agency is not a member of the free press, it is an apparatus of your government so I don't understand how you can refute any implication from what they have tweeted. The Bangkok Post is free to do as it wishes, our Ministers are free to respond to allegations published in the media as they wish. It is unprofessional for the Thai Government or any of its agencies to then accuse the Australian Government of misinformation and that is what we are taking protest with, so let's focus on that. Even if you believe it to be true, it is still unprofessional and damaging to our relationship and that is why we are perplexed as to why it was publicly said in the first place, it does nothing to advance Thailand's interests. Yours sincerely, Kevin Rudd.

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

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Bossza007

 

[Bossza007]

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To: <Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia; CC: Kevin Rudd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia> Owen From: <Sarabun@mfa.mail.go.th> Subject: Australian Diplomatic Compliant Security Type: NSST 1.0 Architecture

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To the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia,

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Thailand acknowledges receipt of the communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia. Your esteemed Department's diplomatic complaint has been duly noted and thoroughly considered.

As previously articulated by our Ministry, we urge the Australian Government to engage with Thailand in a manner grounded in factual discourse, devoid of emotive rhetoric or defensive posturing. The prevailing economic projections for the Australian Economy suggest an imminent collapse unless alternative revenue streams are identified. It is imperative to clarify that neither Thailand nor our National Intelligence Agency, operating strictly within the tenets of democracy, human rights, and justice, are subject to governmental interference. While acknowledging Australia's commitment to enhancing diplomatic relations globally, we must emphasize that Thailand remains open to engagement despite concurrently fostering relations with thirteen other nations worldwide. Moreover, Thailand, like any other countries, has an inherent paramount interest in preventing the establishment of a failed state within its immediate border or region.

Sincerely,

Surakiart Sathirathai
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Thailand

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Digital Diplomatic Communication​

 

[Owen]

​

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET (ENCRYPTED)​

20 April 2004

Dear Mr. Sathirathai, I would not bother making any further communications with the Australian Government until the Thai Government is willing to act in a professional and diplomatic manner by avoiding passing commentary on another nation's internal affairs. You have made the choice to take a stick of dynamite to the relationship which we have worked hard to build on for no apparent reason other than the fact you have an unbeknownst pressing urge to pass commentary on the Australian economy, the government's budgetary decisions and also whether the communique's of Ministers of the Crown are factual or not. I welcome your apology when you decide that this relationship is actually valuable to your government and one that needs to be conducted with the highest degree of professionalism. Yours sincerely, Kevin Rudd.

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

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Bossza007

 

[Bossza007]

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To: <Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia; CC: Kevin Rudd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia> Owen From: <Sarabun@mfa.mail.go.th> Subject: Australian Diplomatic Compliant Security Type: NSST 1.0 Architecture

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To the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia,

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Thailand acknowledges receipt of the communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Commonwealth of Australia. Your esteemed Department's diplomatic complaint has been duly noted and thoroughly considered.

The latest communication from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade exemplifies a profound detachment from reality and an alarming disregard for the principles of diplomacy, transparency, and regional stability. The Thai Government’s commitment to these tenets remains unwavering, and we will not be deterred by the hollow threats of condescending rhetoric.

It is evident that the Australian Government remains willfully ignorant of the grave economic and security concerns raised by reputable international sources and corroborated by our intelligence apparatus. Your dismissal of these legitimate anxieties as mere “commentary” on internal affairs is both disingenuous and shortsighted.

The potential establishment of a failed state within our immediate region poses an existential threat to Thailand’s sovereignty and national interests. It is our moral and legal obligation to address such risks proactively, even if it involves scrutinizing the decision of our diplomatic partners.

Furthermore, your claims of professionalism ring hollow when your government consistently disregards the principles of open dialogue, fact-based discourse, and mutual respect that underpin effective diplomacy. It is the Australian side that has chosen to engage in deflection, obfuscation, and ad hominem attacks rather than substantively addressing the issues at hand.

Let this serve as a final warning: Thailand will not be cowed by your government’s defensive posturing and ego-driven bravado. We remain committed to fostering relationship grounded in transparency, accountability, and a share commitment to regional stability and humanity great good.

However, if the Australian government persists in its willful ignorance and refusal to engage constructively, we will have no choice but to reevaluate the nature and scope of our diplomatic ties. The onus is on the Australia to demonstrate a genuine commitment to open and fact-based dialogue, lest it risk further erosion of its credibility and standing in the international community.

The choices are for Australia to take. Diplomacy demands a willingness to confront difficult truths and adapt to changing realities. We urge you to embrace this etho before it is too late.

Sincerely,

Surakiart Sathirathai
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Thailand

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Digital Diplomatic Communication​