THAILAND IN THE VACCINATION STAGE A U.S . AIR FORCE JET TRANSPORT 
EASED ONTO CENTRAL THAILAND'S KORAT AIRSTRIP FROM HAWAII LAST WEEK AND 
DEPOSITED 69 U.S . COMBAT TROOPS IN BATTLE DRESS . THEY 
WERE THE ADVANCE UNIT OF THE TWO U.S . ARMY BATTLE 
GROUPS SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE IN NEXT MONTH'S SEATO MANEUVERS INVOLVING 25,000 
TROOPS FROM THAILAND, THE U.S., FRANCE, BRITAIN, PAKISTAN AND THE PHILIPPINES 
. AT SEATO HEADQUARTERS IN BANGKOK, THE PURPOSE OF THE EXERCISE 
WAS EXPLAINED : " THE OPERATION SUPPOSES THAT OUT OF TENSE 
CONDITIONS NEAR THE BORDER OF THAILAND AN ENEMY FORCE CROSSES INTO 
THIS COUNTRY IN OPEN AGGRESSION . " ACROSS THE MEKONG . 
THOUGH THE SEATO BATTLE PLAN WAS WRITTEN MONTHS AGO, RECENT EVENTS 
IN NEIGHBORING LAOS HAVE GIVEN IT PRESSING IMMEDIACY . THAILAND TODAY 
IS PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO WHAT U.S . AMBASSADOR KENNETH TODD YOUNG 
CALLS " AGGRESSION BY SEEPAGE . " SOME 45,000 NORTH VIETNAMESE, 
MANY OF WHOM SETTLED IN THAILAND DURING INDO-CHINA'S WAR AGAINST FRANCE, 
HAVE BEEN HEAVILY INFILTRATED BY COMMUNIST AGENTS . AMONG THE MOUNTAIN 
TRIBES OF THE NORTH, THERE IS NO SENSE OF NATIONALITY AND 
NO LOYALTY TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN BANGKOK . WHAT IS 
MORE, SOME 9,000,000 THAIS OF LAO STOCK LIVE IN THE ISOLATED, 
SCRUBBY, AND IMPOVERISHED NORTHEASTERN PROVINCES JUST ACROSS THE MUDDY MEKONG RIVER 
FROM THEIR ETHNIC BROTHERS IN LAOS . WITH NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF 
LAOS CURRENTLY IN COMMUNIST HANDS, THE ENTIRE NORTHEAST HAS BEEN EXPOSED 
TO RED SUBVERSION . POSING AS PEDDLERS, RIVER BOATMEN AND WANDERING 
TROUBADOURS, COMMUNIST INFILTRATORS FROM LAOS PASS OUT CLOTHING AND MEDICINE, IMPROVISE 
ANTIGOVERNMENT VERSES ON OLD FOLK SONGS . " LAO WILL BE 
LAO, " THEY SAY . " THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THIS 
AREA ARE LAOS ; THOSE WHO LIVE BEYOND KORAT ARE THAIS 
. " COMMUNISM IS NEVER MENTIONED ; INSTEAD, THE REDS CONSTANTLY 
HARP ON THE THEME THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS WILFULLY NEGLECTED THE 
NORTHEAST, PROMISE VILLAGERS A SALARY OF $150 A MONTH (V . 
THAILAND'S PER CAPITA INCOME OF $105 A YEAR) IF THEY WILL 
JOIN FORCES WITH THE LAOTIAN REDS . WELLS ON WHEELS . 
SPURRED BY THE DISCOVERY OF HIDDEN COMMUNIST ARMS CACHES AND REPORTS 
OF RED SUPPLY DROPS BY PARACHUTE IN THE NORTHEAST, PREMIER SARIT 
THANARAT HAS BEGUN A CRASH PROGRAM TO COUNTERACT RED INFLUENCE IN 
THE AREA . EARMARKING $300 MILLION IN DEVELOPMENT FUNDS, HE HAS 
ALREADY SENT OUT TWO OF A PLANNED TWELVE MOBILE DEVELOPMENT UNITS 
TO DRILL FRESH-WATER WELLS, BULLDOZE NEW ROADS, AND DISPENSE MEDICAL CARE 
. UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THAILAND'S SHARPEST AND MOST AGGRESSIVE YOUNG 
CIVIL SERVANTS, WHO ONCE SHUNNED THE NORTHEAST AS A KIND OF 
SIBERIA, SCHOOLS ARE BEING BUILT AND ELECTRIC GENERATORS INSTALLED TO PROVIDE 
POWER . GOVERNMENT INFORMATION TEAMS ARE CRISSCROSSING THE NORTHEAST STRESSING THE 
ADVANTAGES OF THAI UNITY . SARIT'S SPEED HAS BEEN CHARACTERISTIC OF 
HIS RULE SINCE HE SEIZED POWER IN 1957 . " ANYBODY 
CAN STAGE A REVOLUTION, " HE SAID THEN . " THE 
TRICK, ONCE THE REVOLUTION HAS BEEN STAGED, IS WINNING PUBLIC APPROVAL 
. " SARIT HAS SUCCEEDED ADMIRABLY . YOZ 54, SARIT CAME 
INTO PROMINENCE AS A HARD-DRINKING, HARD-WENCHING ARMY FIELD MARSHAL WHO ONCE 
SHOWED UP AT AN EMBASSY DINNER PARTY IN BANGKOK CARRYING HIS 
OWN LIQUOR, WITH THE COMPLAINT THAT HIS HOST'S HOOCH WAS SECOND 
RATE . CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POWER 
CALMED HIM DOWN . THOUGH HE ONCE WAS INVOLVED IN VARIOUS 
DEVIOUS DEALS, HE SLASHED CORRUPTION TO THE MINIMUM . " HE 
WANTS HIS NAME IN THE HISTORY BOOKS, NOT HIS MONEY IN 
A SWISS BANK ACCOUNT, " AN OBSERVER EXPLAINED . SOME FOREIGN 
HELP . SARIT CRACKED DOWN HARD ON THE COMMUNISTS, OUTLAWED TRADE 
WITH RED CHINA . HELPED BY MORE THAN $750 MILLION IN 
U.S . AID, HE STABILIZED THE ECONOMY, ACHIEVED A HEFTY TRADE 
BALANCE, AND SOCKED AWAY MORE THAN $500 MILLION IN FOREIGN-EXCHANGE RESERVES 
THAT ENCOURAGED FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION . THE U.S.-BUILT FRIENDSHIP 
HIGHWAY FACILITATED THE MOVEMENT OF CROPS TO MARKET, AND THE GOVERNMENT 
BEGAN AN AGRICULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAM TO LESSEN DEPENDENCE ON RICE, THAILAND'S 
SINGLE CASH CROP . TODAY, THE U.S . MAINTAINS SOME 4,500 
MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THAILAND . THEY HELP BUILD ROADS, FLY HELICOPTERS 
AND OPERATE U.S.-THAI RADAR STATIONS . ONE GROUP OF NAVY SEABEES 
IS BUILDING A 6,200 YARD JET AIRSTRIP NEAR THE FRONTIER WITH 
LAOS . IN NEXT MONTH'S MANEUVERS THAILAND'S TOUGH, MODERN-EQUIPPED, 80,000MAN ARMY 
WILL WORK TO PERFECT ITS COUNTERINSURGENCY TECHNIQUES . MORE THAN ITS 
NEIGHBORS, THAILAND HAS A MOTIVE TO FIGHT AGAINST A POTENTIAL COMMUNIST 
TAKEOVER ; OF ALL THE NATIONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, THAILAND ALONE 
HAS NEVER BEEN DOMINATED BY A COLONIAL POWER, HAS BEEN INDEPENDENT 
SINCE THE 13TH CENTURY . SARIT IS CONFIDENT THAT HIS PROGRAM 
WILL KEEP IT SO . " THE SITUATION WAS QUITE SERIOUS, 
" HE ADMITS, " BUT SINCE WE STARTED TO MOVE IN 
THE NORTHEAST, THE DANGER HAS BECOME LESS ACUTE . " ADDS 
A TOP MILITARY AIDE : " THAILAND IS IN THE VACCINATION 
STAGE . WE DON'T HAVE THE DISEASE OF COMMUNISM . IF 
WE VACCINATE NOW, WE WON'T FALL ILL . / 