Thai and United States armed forces started their Cobra Gold 2022 military exercise to promote good military ties among friendly nations.
Gen Chalermpol Srisawat, chief of Thai defense forces, and Michael Heath, US charge d’affaires, presided over a ceremony to kick off the military drill via a video teleconference. Cobra Gold is the biggest military exercise in Southeast Asia and the Royal Thai Armed Forces and the US Indo-Pacific Command jointly host it annually.
Seven countries participate in main drills, consisting of Thailand, the US, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia. China, India and Australia take part in humanitarian assistance exercises.
Cobra Gold 2022 was scheduled to take place mainly in areas under the jurisdiction of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Army Areas and the upper Gulf of Thailand from Feb 22 to March 4.
To help control COVID-19, the number of soldiers in Cobra Gold 2022 was reduced from 8,964 to 3,460. Visiting soldiers were required to receive at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccination before arrival. Besides, participants must have their health checked daily and undergo antigen tests for COVID-19 every five days. (TNA)
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