ABSTRACT
Shared interests, objectives, and expectations are the foundation of a strong alliance, but Thailand is a consistent outlier in its assessment of the US role in the region. This chapter examines the US-Thailand site of memory, and offers a new means of explaining this fractured view of the United States. Partly because of an accumulation of negative memory, it argues that identity dissonance has grown; that is to say, the net balance of US identity for Thais has become negative. This identity dissonance is now framing contemporary events. A significant part of Thailand’s negative framing of the United States is Thailand’s approach to war memory. It means the remembrance of US and Thai comrades in arms does not filter through into broader public imaginings. The US government’s position was not pure philanthropy. The United States was convinced that its interests would be better served by treating Thailand as an “enemy-occupied country” rather than simply as an “enemy”.
