Diplomatic coup for Thai junta, as Trump welcomes military leader Prayuth at White House

US President Donald Trump welcomed Thailand’s junta leader to the White House on Monday – a rare instance of a military ruler being feted in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was greeted at the South Portico by Trump and first lady Melania Trump as he arrived for talks and a working lunch. The visit comes three years after Prayuth seized power in a military coup, and days after the elected leader whose government he ousted was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

Human rights groups are outraged, but it gives a shot in the arm to US relations with its oldest ally in Asia, which has moved more into China’s orbit since Washington scaled back ties because of the military takeover.

The Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, maintains that relations with Thailand will only be fully restored when democracy returns. But rolling out the red carpet for Prayuth reflects a shift in US foreign policy priorities. Trump espouses a doctrine of “America First,” prioritising US trade and strategic interests. He’s more willing to engage with anti-democratic leaders and less troubled by their human rights records.

That’s not been lost on observers in Thailand, whose diplomatic relations with Washington date back to 1833. Deep military ties were forged in the fires of the Vietnam War.

In an editorial, The Nation, a Thai newspaper, said the junta views the invite to Washington “as a nod to legitimacy in the absence of an electoral mandate.” It contrasted that with President Barack Obama’s disapproval of the coup, which “soured relations between our countries and forced the generals to lean heavily on China.”