    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [November 26, 1996]
    [Pages 2151-2154]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok
    November 26, 1996

        The President. Thank you very much. Dr. Thienchay, Dr. Kasem, to the
    students and faculty who are here, citizens of Thailand, my fellow
    Americans. Especially I would like to thank the glee club who sang. They
    did a marvelous job. Thank you very much for your music.
        I am delighted and honored to be here today at a great center of
    learning that is a living memorial to Thailand's glorious past, yet with
    a mission focused on the future; an institution that is proudly and
    distinctively Asian, yet reaching out to the entire world. And in the
    faces of the young people who are in this audience, we all see the
    shining promise of tomorrow.
        I thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak here today about
    the future the United States, Thailand, and the entire Asia-Pacific
    region will share in the 21st century. Three years ago, I took my first
    trip overseas as President to Japan and Korea. Now, shortly after my
    reelection, again my first trip is to Asia, to Australia, the
    Philippines, and Thailand. In Australia, at APEC, in my meetings with
    the leaders of China, South Korea, Japan, and your own nation, I have
    reaffirmed America's commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. That
    commitment is stronger than ever, for in the 21st century America's
    future cannot be secure if Asia's future is in doubt.
        I wanted to visit Thailand for quite some time now, but I am
    especially glad to be able to join you in this historic year as we
    celebrate the life and work of His Majesty the King. The close ties
    between our two nations go back to 1833, when America signed a treaty of
    amity and commerce with the Kingdom of Siam. Those early bonds of
    friendship have endured the test of time, anchored by our security
    alliance, strengthened through our comradeship in Korea, in Vietnam,
    kept sharp and ready through Cobra Gold, the largest exercise involving
    United States forces anywhere in Asia.
        Our nations are partners in prosperity as well. We enjoyed some $18
    billion in two-way trade last year alone. We've forged important
    agreements in civil aviation, the protection of intellectual property,
    and the tax treaty I was honored to witness just a few moments ago here
    in Bangkok today.
        More than ever, our people are also joined by ties of culture and
    community. My country has been strengthened by the contributions of
    literally tens of thousands of Americans of Thai descent. And from
    Southern California to Houston to New York, our culture has been greatly
    enriched by the graceful temples, the ancient traditions, the exotic
    flavors of Thailand which now have a home in the United States.
        Now we must deepen our partnership for the demands of the 21st
    century. The United States and Thailand, for all the distance and
    differences between us, share a common vision, the dream of an Asia-
    Pacific region where economic growth and democratic ideals are advancing
    steadily and reinforcing one another. That dream is coming true here in
    Thailand today, to the benefit of your people, this region, and the
    world.
        Consider just how much the world has changed since President Johnson
    spoke here at Chula 30 years ago. The cold war is over. ASEAN, born in
    the throes of the Vietnam war, last year welcomed Vietnam as its newest
    member. Thailand has become an economic powerhouse. The economies of
    east Asia are the fastest growing in the world. The new global economy,
    spurred on by continuous explosions in information and technology, is
    transforming the way we live and work and communicate, collapsing the
    distances between us as the free flow of goods and the free flow of
    ideas are bringing tremendous opportunities for people throughout the
    world.
        Of course, for all its promise, the 21st century will not be free of
    peril. Aggressive rogue states,

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    global crime networks and drug traffickers, weapons proliferation, and
    terrorism, all these will continue to menace our security.
        The nations most likely to succeed in this new world, to succeed in
    seizing the opportunities and meeting the threats of our time, are those
    that respond to the needs and aspirations of their people, promote
    commerce and cooperation instead of conflict, and have the openness and
    flexibility to harness the winds of change.
        Thailand is proving that proposition every day. Yours has been the
    world's fastest growing economy over the last decade. You are laying the
    groundwork for an Asia of the future, where ancient cultures are linked
    by modern communications, where a vast and diverse region is joined by
    values of hard work and enterprise and shared benefits. This benefits
    the United States alone with more than 2 million jobs and 40 percent of
    our trade now tied to the Asia-Pacific region.
        In the face of this, some have argued that democracy actually
    hinders economic growth in this region and in developing nations. But we
    need look no further than the economic vitality of Thailand, the
    Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea to see that economic growth and
    democratic development can go hand in hand. Indeed, in the information-
    based economy of today and tomorrow, free market democracies have unique
    advantages. Freedom and democracy strengthen the prospects for strong
    and enduring economic progress.
        A wave of democracy has swept the Earth in recent years, from
    Hungary to Haiti, to South Africa, to Cambodia, to Mongolia. More than
    half the world's people now live under governments of their own
    choosing, for the first time in all of human history.
        Here in Thailand, last week's elections were a further milestone in
    your democratic journey. As always in elections, there were winners and
    there were losers. I can say that; I have been a winner and a loser.
    [Laughter] And while losing is not as good as winning, whenever power is
    transferred peacefully and democratically, everyone in that nation is a
    winner.
        The United States is proud to have supported democracy's march
    across Asia. We do not seek to impose our vision of the world or any
    particular form of government on others. But we do believe that freedom
    and justice are the birthright of humankind. The citizens of Thailand,
    Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand--Taiwan--show
    us that accountable government and the rule of law can thrive in an
    Asian climate. The people of Cambodia and Mongolia proved that change is
    possible in difficult circumstances. The brave reformers in Burma led by
    Aung San Suu Kyi remind us that these desires know no boundaries. Their
    aspirations are universal because they are fundamentally human.
        Every nation of the Asia-Pacific must preserve the best of its
    traditions while pursuing the benefits of progress. But surely we can
    all agree that human dignity and individual worth must never be
    undervalued or abused. The United States will continue to stand with
    those who stand for freedom in Asia and beyond. Doing so reflects not
    only our ideals, it advances our interests. A nation that respects the
    rights of its own people is far more likely to respect the rights of its
    neighbors, to keep its word, to play by the rules, to be a reliable
    partner in diplomacy and trade and in the pursuit of peace and
    stability.
        It is in that pursuit that the United States will continue to
    maintain our strong Pacific presence, with 100,000 American troops to
    safeguard our common security. We are reinforcing our five core
    alliances here, including our very special alliance with Thailand. We're
    helping Asia to build new security structures to promote stability and
    peace. But let me be clear: Our presence is not aimed against anyone or
    any nation. Its aim is to benefit everyone and every nation through
    greater security and stability for all.
        Safeguarding stability, we know now, requires more than military
    strength. In a world grown closer, both the rewards of cooperation and
    the costs of conflict have risen dramatically. Just yesterday we saw a
    real result of working together as the APEC leaders, with strong support
    from Thailand, endorsed early completion of an information technology
    agreement which would cut to zero tariffs on products from
    semiconductors to software by the year 2000.
        Imagine the benefits to the students in this auditorium and those
    just outside and in booming countries the world over as ideas become
    even more open and accessible to people, as the information revolution
    spreads to even more eager minds. Imagine the even greater benefits
    which will come to that one-half of the world's population which,
    believe it or not, are still 2 days' walk from the nearest telephone.
    They

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    cannot participate in this world we are trying to imagine and create
    unless we all join together to spread the benefits of the information
    revolution to everyone and to do it now.
        But let us not be blind to the fact that as barriers crumble and
    borders blur and progress spreads quickly, so, too, can trouble spread
    quickly in this new world. We have only to look at the spread of
    environmental degradation, HIV and AIDS, weapons of mass destruction,
    terrorism, drug trafficking, the rise of organized crime. These forces
    of destruction defy traditional defenses, just as traditional barriers
    can no longer keep out ideas, information, and truth. No nation is
    immune to the forces of destruction, and none can defeat these threats
    alone.
        Therefore, we must work together. The United States is working with
    Thailand to ease the toll that economic growth has taken on your
    environment. Many American environmental companies are working here for
    a healthier future not only in Thailand but beyond your borders. Our
    Embassy here is our regional headquarters for working on issues like air
    pollution and climate change throughout the area. Thailand is helping to
    lead the way. Recently you became the first developing nation to ban the
    production and import of refrigerators with ozone-destroying CFC's, and
    I thank you for that.
        We are also working with Thailand to help stop the terrible AIDS
    epidemic, now spreading faster in Asia than in any other region of the
    world. Again, Thailand stands on the very frontlines, setting a strong
    example in promoting AIDS prevention. But even with declining rates of
    infection, the public health problem is enormous. We in America will do
    our part by promoting dramatic increases in research and development of
    new drugs. I am happy to say that in our country in the last 4 years the
    average life expectancy for those with HIV and AIDS has more than
    doubled. We will continue to do our part, but you must continue to work
    as only you can here, as well.
        The United States Agency for International Development helped to
    launch the Thai Women of Tomorrow Project to assist young women in
    finding better prospects than the prostitution that puts their lives at
    risk. The First Lady visited that project the day before yesterday when
    she traveled to Chiang Mai to see the project started by faculty members
    at Chiang Mai University. Of course, this is important to try to turn
    these young women and their families away from destructive life habits.
    But as the First Lady has said all over the world, it is not enough to
    protect women and girls from those who would exploit them; we must all
    work together to open wide the positive doors of opportunity so that
    every person in every free society can contribute and share in its
    progress.
        Our cooperation is nowhere more essential than in the fight against
    the increasingly interconnected and global forces of organized crime.
    For left unchecked, these criminal conglomerates, multinational masters
    of the underworld, will distort free economies, derail fragile
    democracies, debilitate our societies with corruption and violence and
    drugs.
        Thailand and the United States are close and committed partners in
    the fight against drugs. We cannot afford to rest in the struggle, for
    the lives of too many millions of our young people are at stake.
    Thailand is setting a strong example for other nations. With the help of
    Their Majesties, the King and Queen, you have helped to give farmers the
    opportunity to give up the cultivation of opium in favor of other more
    productive crops. You have drafted money laundering legislation which we
    hope will soon be passed. You have helped to deter drug trafficking
    through your country by toughening your northern border patrols.
        And our extensive cooperation in law enforcement is clearly paying
    off. In 1994, Operation Tiger Trap dealt a crippling blow to a major
    trafficking network in Burma, enabling the arrest of 14 drug kingpins, 2
    of whom have now been extradited to the United States. In all your work
    in this area, Thailand is sending a clear signal to drug lords: We will
    fight you; we are determined to stop you. And America has a clear signal
    to Thailand: We will stand with you all the way. On behalf of General
    Barry McCaffrey, who leads our Nation's antidrug effort and who is with
    me today, and all those children whose lives we are helping to save, I
    thank the Thai Government and the people of Thailand for moving away
    from the scourge of narcotics.
        We know we must do more to fight illegal drugs at the source. Burma
    has long been the world's number one producer of opium and heroin and
    now is also making methamphetamines. The role of drugs in Burma's
    economic and political life and the regime's refusal to honor its own
    pledge to move to multiparty democracy are really two sides of the same
    coin, for both

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    represent the absence of the rule of law. Every nation has an interest
    in promoting true political dialog in Burma, a dialog that will lead to
    a real fight against crime, corruption, and narcotics and a government
    more acceptable to its people.
        Whether we are fighting drugs, combating AIDS, trying to open bright
    new futures for our children, or working to protect the planet we share,
    Thailand and the United States are making our partnership work for our
    people, for we both know we have much more to gain from standing
    together than by going it alone. And we both appreciate how much can be
    achieved when dialog and democracy are the lifeblood of two nations'
    relations with each other, when policies are made through consensus, not
    coercion, and when people everywhere are given the tools and the chance
    to make the most of their own lives.
        Working together, the United States and Thailand can help lead the
    way to an Asia-Pacific region in which economic success and greater
    freedom advance together and support one another, a region in which
    growing opportunity is matched and strengthened by increasing freedom,
    stability, and security.
        We still have challenges to meet. We still have opportunities to
    seize. We still have much to learn from one another. But I am confident
    we will do all these things, because we know that by working together
    and working with others we can build a Pacific community based on shared
    interests, shared values, and shared dreams. It is my great honor,
    therefore, to be here today to reaffirm America's enduring engagement in
    the Asia-Pacific and our lasting and proud friendship with Thailand.
        Thank you very much.

    [At this point, the degree of Doctor of Economics was conferred upon the
    President.]

        The President. Thank you very much. Let me just briefly say that--
    first, to the distinguished officials of the university who voted this
    degree, I thank you very much. When I heard the president reading the
    degree citation, I have to tell you what I was thinking was I wish that
    they had made that available to the voters in my country before the last
    election. [Laughter] But I thank him for it very much.
        I understand that in many quarters this great university,
    Chulalongkorn, is known as the Harvard of Thailand. Now, I never made it
    to Harvard--[laughter]--but if I had to choose, I feel so thoroughly
    elevated today in my wonderful robes and with my degree, I prefer to
    have been awarded the degree here. And I thank you. I think every time I
    go back now to my wonderful friends in Massachusetts and at Harvard, I
    will always--at least a part of me will always think of Harvard as the
    Chulalongkorn of the United States. [Laughter]
        Thank you very much, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:05 p.m. in the auditorium. In his
    remarks, he referred to Thienchay Kiranandana, president, and Kasem
    Suwannakul, university council chairman, Chulalongkorn University; King
    Phumiphon and Queen Sirikit of Thailand; and Burmese opposition leader
    Aung San Suu Kyi.