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 Thailand, a long-time U.S. ally, remains under martial law
following a coup last May, and the junta says a general election is
at least a year away.
Relations between the two sides have deteriorated sharply since the
coup, with Washington freezing aid and cancelling some security
engagements.
In an address to students at a Bangkok university on Monday,
Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific
Daniel Russel called for more inclusive politics and the end of
martial law.
The comments from Russel, the highest-level U.S. official to visit
Thailand since the coup, came a few days after ousted Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra was banned from politics for five years and
indicted on criminal charges over a state rice buying scheme.
"We don't agree with the Assistant Secretary of State talking about
politics at Chulalongkorn University. It hurt many Thais," Thai
deputy foreign minister Don Pramudwinai told reporters after
summoning the U.S. charge d'affaires, Patrick Murphy.
 "If we comply with (Washington's wish) and lift martial law and it
leads to problems, how will those people who are asking for the
lifting of martial law take responsibility?" he said. "In reality,
Thais don't even know there is martial law."
Russel had said while Washington did not take sides in Thai
politics, it was for the Thai people to determine the legitimacy of
the political and legal processes. He expressed concerns that the
political process did not seem to represent all elements in Thai
society.
COUP LEADER SAYS SADDENED
Russel met with representatives of the military government, but did
not meet Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who took power after
leading the coup.
Prayuth said he hoped that the latest flare-up would not affect
bilateral trade, adding that economic ties were continuing as
normal.
"It saddens me that the United States does not understand the reason
why I had to intervene and does not understand the way we work, even
though we have been close allies for years," Prayuth told reporters.
In the diplomatic tit-for-tat, the Thai deputy foreign minister said
Washington did not understand the complexities of the local
political scene.
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"The U.S. does not understand Thai politics," Don said. "Yingluck's
impeachment was not a political matter."
Washington downgraded diplomatic ties after the coup, blocking $4.7
million of security-related aid as well as suspending high-level
engagements and some military exercises and police training
programmes.
Thailand's military government has promised reforms and an eventual
return to democratic rule, but critics say the army has stifled free
speech.
Yingluck, the country's first female premier, was removed from
office for abuse of power last May, days before the coup which ended
months of political unrest. Nearly 30 people died in street
protests.
The ban and the legal case against here are the latest twist in 10
years of turbulent politics that have pitted Yingluck and her
brother Thaksin, himself a former prime minister, against the
royalist-military establishment that sees the Shinawatras as a
threat and reviles their populist policies.
Yingluck will face criminal charges in the Supreme Court next month,
and if found guilty faces up to 10 years in jail.
(Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak; Editing by Jeremy
Laurence)
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