THAIS GIVEN U.S. APOLOGY FOR HOAX

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000201300038-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2010
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: January 6, 1974
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP9O-00845ROO0201300038-1
6 JAN 1974
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BANGKOK,. Thailand (AP) - A CIA agent sent the
hai government a bogus cease-fire offer in the name
f a Thai Communist insurgent leader, the U.S. Em-
assy said yesterday. The hoax was said to have been ?
iscovered because of an over-cautious errand boy. -
'cmber from Sakon Nakhon, a province capital 350
Iles nortjicast of Bangkok in an area-where U.S..re-
orts say 1?,600 to 2,000 armed rebels operate.
fire offer in return for local autonomy in. "liberated
The agent, reliably reported to he an American, was
said to have hoped the letter would increase defections
to the government. It was not made clear how he ex-
pected this to happen.
THE U.S. EMBASSY, which admitted the affair aft-
er three Bangkok newspapers published the story,
said, "The incident of the cease-fire letter . was a
regrettable, unauthorized initiative."
? It added that U.S. Ambassador William R. Kintner,
who presented his credentials only Nov. 29, "has di-
rected categorically that no American official be in-
volved in a..y activity which could be interpreted as
interference in Thai internal affairs."
The incident was especially embarrassing to Kint-
ner, who has been trying to play down his former ca-
reer as a U.S. Army officer, including two years with
the Central Intelligence Agency in %;'ashington as a
planning specialist on paramilitary activities in 1950-
1952.
Student militants denounced Kintner as a CIA agent
after his arrival andurged that the government watch.
him carefully.
The embassy statement said the incident "has been
discussed with the appropriate Thai officials," but
gave no further.
HOWEVER, informed source s said an account of the
affair in the Bangkok newspaper The Nation was accu-
rate.
The Nation cited "an unimpeachable source" as say-
ing the CIA had apologized to Thai authorities for the
affair and that the agent who sent the letter - code=
named "Lion" - actually had contacted insurgents in
the northeast jungles and had sent the hoax letter with
good intentions hoping to win more Communist defec-
tions.
The letter 'was signed "Chamras" - the code name
of a Central Committee member of the Communist par-
ty of Thailand in the northeast, The Nationa reported.
It said the agent put no return address on the letter
to Premier Sanya Thammasak, but the boy who mailed
the letter had it registered and the government traced
the registration to the agent's address in Sakon Nak-
hon.
THE HEAD OF Thailand's Communist suppression
organization, Lt. Gen. Saiyud Kerdphol, had previous-
ly termed the letter's offer ridiculous and informed
sources had expressed suspicion of its authenticity,
saying it was not consistent with Communist strategy.
. On Dec. 9 the Thai government radio station report-
ed that Communists in nine northern provinces had
been distributing leaflets with essentially the same
promise - cooperation with the new civilian govern-
ment in return for autonomy behind "the Communist
line."
Officials were skeptical of this proposal too and said
they were investigating.
On Dec. 24 Defense Minister Dawee Chullasap told
reporters that the cabinet was considering proposing a
cease-fire to the Communists and subsequently the
government did announce that it would give amnesty
to insurgents captured this year and to all who want to
surrender.
The government yesterday took another step in its
new approach to counter insurgency by dissolvintt the
communism suppression organization and decentr.,liz-
ing its functions.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP9O-00845ROO0201300038-1
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