Spectator's Notebook
THOSE who are opposed to Britain's military 1 involvement East of Suez—not to mention' the anti-Americans of the far left and the British supporters of Senator Fulbright—have expressed fears that, with the Indonesia-Malaysia con- frontation now at an end, President Johnson will put increasing pressure on us to send troops to Vietnam; and that Mr Wilson will duly yield. I suggest that they would do better to concern themselves not with Vietnam but with Thailand, where, as Dick Wilson (lately returned from a visit there) points out on page 752, insurgency has already begun and a troublesome situation could develop.
A request for British forces to join the Americans in Thailand could prove very difficult to refuse indeed. In Vietnam we have the excuse that it would be improper for us, as one of the Geneva co-chairmen, to intervene militarily. In Thailand not only does this not apply, but under the terms of the South-East Asia Treaty Organi- sation (SEATO), of which Thailand. unlike Viet- nam, is a member, we are almost bound Oa respond to an appeal for help if it is made. (For the benefit of those interested, articles 2 and 4 refer.) In fact, I have reason- to believe that at this very moment a request by the Thais for British troops is under discussion in Washington. And there can be little doubt that the Americans would love to see us. as comrades-in-arms in South-East Asia. This could well develop into a headache for Mr Wilson that will make Wed- nesday's back-bench revolt seem a tea-party.
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