§ 5. Mr. Warbeyasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will give an assurance that, in the agreement concerning the stationing of British forces in Thailand, he will include a provision that British forces will be withdrawn from Thailand if the Thai Government fail to disarm and intern Royal Laotian forces crossing their frontier, in accordance with the prescriptions of international law.
§ 6. Mr. Zilliacusasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will give an assurance that British forces and equipment in Thailand will not be used to give direct or indirect support to any military action on Laotian territory using Thailand territory as a base, nor take part in any operation involving the risk of a conflict with Chinese forces.
§ Mr. HeathThere is nothing in the rules of international law to oblige the Thai Government to intern Laotian forces which have crossed into Thai territory, unless Thailand recognised the contending forces in Laos as belligerents. This she has not done. Our objective in dispatching an Air Force contingent to Thailand is to defend Thailand if that country is attacked. Any future request from Laos for military assistance would have to be considered in the light of circumstances at the time.
§ Mr. WarbeyYes, but surely under international law a non-belligerent is required to disarm and intern the forces of a belligerent crossing his frontiers, and there cannot, surely, be any doubt about the nature of the belligerent activities of Laos? In these circumstances, is not Thailand acting as a co-belligerent with General Phoumi? Does not this place the British forces in Thailand in a hopelessly invidious position?
§ Mr. HeathNo. The hon. Members argument is based on a fallacy, the nature of which I exposed in my Answer. Thailand is not bound by the Geneva Convention to intern these forces unless she has recognised them as belligerents in Laos, which she has not done.
§ Mr. ZilliacusDoes not the fact remain that active assistance, material and military, is coming from Thailand to the Royal Laotian forces in Laos and that they can fall back into Thai territory and recuperate; and, whatever the legal technicalities, does not that make the forces part of those operations and liable to be involved in further consequences, which may be extremely serious?
§ Mr. M. FootCan the Minister tell us whether, when British troops were sent to Thailand, the British Government asked the Thai Government for any 22 undertakings whatsoever about the operations which were going on in Laos? If so, what were those undertakings? Or did we just send troops without making any conditions whatsoever as to how they should be used to support the actions of the Thai Government in Laos?
§ Mr. HeathAs my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister told the House, the forces are under national command.