Thailand signs rare-earth agreement with US positioning itself as a gateway to rare-earth minerals from Myanmar

Thailand has signed an MOU with US on rare-earth minerals. While domestically this has caused an uproar on sovereignty as it gives US access to mineral rights and a say in regulations in Thailand, Thai government is positioning it as a tariff bargaining chip.

Thailand's reserves stand at a paltry 4,500 tonnes per its government while China has 44 million tonnes. Why would US be seeking an agreement with Thailand? The answer is it's not the production from Thailand, but Myanmar.

Earlier this year it was reported that Trump administration was seeking various ways of obtaining rare earth minerals from Myanmar, the third largest producer of rare earths in the world, in order to reduce its dependence on China. However it faces a devil's choice of either directly dealing with the illegal military junta or the guerilla group Kachin Independence Army or KIA which controls most of the rare earth mines and thus inserting itself directly into Myanmar's political affairs. That also would anger China in the process as China sees Myanmar as its exclusive sphere of influence.

But US found the perfect conduit into Myanmar as it had in the past: Thailand. It was through Thailand that US supplied and supported Chinese republican army as it occupied eastern Myanmar while attempting to fight the communists in China. It was CIA which began opium growing in Myanmar in the 1950s as a way to raise funds for the Chinese republican army.

Thailand has long served as the gateway for illegal exports from Myanmar be it opium, illegally exported precious gemstones such as rubies jades emeralds, or teak wood, or meth, and now rare earth minerals.

Thais now seek to position themselves as a player in this important strategic mineral industry as a key processor and exporter. With a little help from Burmese mines.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3128338/legality-of-thaius-rare-earths-deal-challenged

https://rareearthexchanges.com/news/thailand-plays-the-rare-earth-game-quietly-but-strategically/