Cobra Gold drills 2015 launched in Thailand

NAKHON NAYOK, THAILAND, February 9 (TNA) - The Cobra Gold military exercises 2015 have been launched in Thailand, in which dozens of allied nations' forces take part, along with US and Thai armed forces. US Charge d’Affaires Patrick Murphy and Thai Deputy Supreme Commander General Wuttinun Leelayudth jointly presided over a ceremony to launch the annual multilateral military drills at Thailand's Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School in Bangkok's neighboring Nakhon Nayok Province on Monday, in which ambassadors and representatives of allied countries participated, including South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The annual Cobra Gold drills have been continued for 34 years, involving about 6,300 soldiers of 24 countries, with seven countries participating in main exercises, including the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, while nine other countries join staff officers’ drills, namely the Philippines, Bangladesh, Britain, Nepal, Mongolia, Australia, Canada, France and Italy and other six countries, comprising Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei and Pakistan, are observers. Main activities of the Cobra Gold drills 2015 include staff officers’ exercises at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School and multilateral military drills in Lop Buri, Chon Buri, Rayong and Nakhon Ratchasima Provinces. The Cobra Gold 2015 also covers exercises on humanitarian aid, disaster responses and public assistance, in which personnel from China and India also join, with main exercise venues set in Lop Buri, Saraburi and Chanthaburi Provinces. Meanwhile, the US charge d’affaires, said during the opening ceremony that Thailand has been a friend of the United States for 182 years and the US hoped Thailand would restore democracy so that full-scaled bilateral relations could resume. (TNA)