SEATO REPORT 1964-1965

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00036R001100170007-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 32
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2002
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: September 8, 1965
• Content Type: REPORT

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SEATO
REPORT
1964 1965
By LT. GEN. JESUS M. VARGAS
Secretary-General
South-East Asia Treaty Organization
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The SEATO Convention on University Equivalences was signed at the
University of the Philippines on SEATO Day, September 8, 1965.
Representing their respective Governments at the ceremony were, from left:
Mr. M. Masood, Ambassador of' Pakistan to the Philippines, Mr. Thanat
Khoman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and (second from
right) Mr. Mauro Mendez, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of' the Philip-
pines. General Carlos P. Romulo, President of the University of the
Philippines (centre), presided over the ceremony. Mr. D.A. Wraight, Deputy
Secretary-General of SEATO (far right) represented the Organization.
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CONTENTS
The Situation in South-East Asia ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
The Role of Collective Defence .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ..
Military Defence ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Defence Against Subversion ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
SEATO Projects:
Graduate School of Engineering ... ... ... ... ... 16
Skilled Labour Projects ... ... ... ... ... ... 17
Telecommunications Project ... ... ... ... ... ... 19
Medical Research ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 20
Clinical Research Centre ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 21
Pakistan-SEATO Cholera Research Laboratory ... ... 22
Community Development ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Hill Tribes Research ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Cultural Program ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 26
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The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Harold Wilson (standing),
addressing the opening session of the tenth meeting of the SEATO Council
of Ministers in London, on May 3, 1965. On his right is the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Mr. Z.A. Bhutto, and on his left, the then
Secretary-General of SEATO, Mr. Konthi Suphamongkhon, the Under-
Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Mr. Librado D. Cayco,
and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Mr. Thanat Khoman.
The Situation in South-East Asia
South-East Asia continues to be harassed by aggression. Free nations
are forced to cope with the tactics of infiltration and subversion in order to
preserve their right to direct their own destinies. Aggression is aggression, no
matter what cloak it hides under; and people want to be free.
The tactics of Communist infiltration and subversion pose a problem which
has world-wide implications: can a small nation successfully defend itself against
this aggression which slithers from the pit of deceit, terror and human bondage?
Or, with the aid of allies, can this aggression be scotched?
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The issue is joined in South Viet-Nam. In 1954, the Geneva Agreement
divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel. At this time the Vietnamese people were
allowed to move from one part to the other and it is worth recalling that one
million of them left their homes in the North and moved to the South. They
"voted with their feet" against Communism.
For five years uneasy peace existed. In South Viet-Nam, people were
developing their economy, improving their living conditions. The prospect for
peace and progress was good.
In 1959, however, the Government of North Viet-Nam called for a full-scale
attack by the Viet Cong on the Government of South Viet-Nam. Men and
weapons were sent, and military direction was given by the North Vietnamese
Government. The International Control Commission in 1962 reported these
facts. This attack was a deliberate attempt by the Communists to harass the
Government of South Viet-Nam. The contrast between the improving economic
and social conditions in South Viet-Nam and the harshness of life in North
Viet-Nam may have been a factor in this new attempt at domination.
Whatever the precipitating factor of the decisions, tens of thousands of
armed men, some of them in regular battalions, have been sent from North
Viet-Nam in a campaign of conquest.
The tactics of the North Vietnamese-directed forces have made the name
"Viet Cong" hateful in South Viet-Nam and in the world. Through deliberate
use of terror tactics, they have imposed their will on some of the people-a
variation of the same terror on which Stalin based his control and which his
successors denounced.
The Viet Cong and the political instrument of the Communists, the
National Liberation Front, have created nothing in South Viet-Nam. They
have produced nothing for the people. They have contributed nothing. In fact,
they boast of "living off the country" - a cancerous boast.
Unable to recruit sufficient volunteers in South Viet-Nam for their armed
forces, the Viet Cong have had to resort to hauling young men off by force.
Unable to convince teachers and civic leaders, the Viet Cong have resorted to
murder and terrorism. These are tactics of infamy. But these tactics proclaim
failure: by using them, the Viet Cong tacitly admit that people do not willingly
support them.
This repugnance for the Viet Cong is demonstrated by the present movement
of refugees from the Communist-dominated areas into those controlled by the
Government of South Viet-Nam. There are few indeed who move to the Viet
Cong areas.
The people of South Viet-Nam and their Government are engaged in
combatting the Communist aggression while they continue their programs for
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economic and social improvement. Massive economic assistance has been provided
by friendly nations. The United States has contributed the greater share; over
thirty other free nations (including all of the SEATO members) have demonstrated
their support for the people of South Viet-Nam by giving assistance in various
forms.
Several nations have, at the request of the South Vietnamese Government,
supplied comba~' troops to repel the Communist North Vietnamese guerrillas.
In 1964, five gears after the North Vietnamese attacked, South Vietnamese and
American air forces began to bomb military targets in North Viet-Nam to
interdict the so4rces and routes of supply of men and arms.
The cauO of freedom is thus being strongly defended.
Commun'st probing for expansionist goals was also directed more closely
toward Thailand this past year. In implicit admission of the Communist Chinese
regime's intentions, its Foreign Minister stated that guerrilla warfare could be
expected in Thailand before the year is ended. Communist intentions being
already well known, the Foreign Minister's statement served mainly to reveal
his arrogance.
The Thais Government has long been alert to the threat of Communist
expansionism. Is signature to the SEATO Treaty in 1954 was based on
recognition of that danger. During the intervening years it has strengthened
its own defences, as well as acted in co-operation with SEATO allies in defence
exercises.
Thailand has also prospered remarkably under the competent guidance
of its leaders. Its outstanding progress, in economic and social fields, in effect
constitute a challenge to Communist nations in the area, a beacon to the people
disheartened by ''the rigidity, the poverty, the cruelty of Communist regimes.
Communist parties must impose strict thought discipline on their agents in
Thailand, lest the benefits of the free society there turn their allegiance away
from their foreign masters.
The neut ality of Laos, agreed by the 1962 Geneva Conference, continues
to be violated b the presence of North Vietnamese armed forces, by the actions
of the Communit Pathet Lao and by the use of Laotian territory to send men
and supplies to the Viet Cong in South Viet-Nam. The flouting of international
agreements by the Communists demonstrates the urgent need for guaranteed
means of enforcement to be incorporated in such agreements.
The "confrontation" policy of Indonesia has introduced new tensions in
the Treaty Area, It has, as well, introduced a premise which Indonesia itself
would very probably not wish to see adopted universally. This premise is that
a nation has a right to attack another nation simply because it does not approve
of that nation's Sc licy.
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The ideological and national rivalry of the Soviet Union and Communist
China has shown no substantial abatement. The abrupt and totally unexpected
(even by Khrushchev) fall of the Russian leader in October 1964 could, at first
glance, have been expected to lead to a healing of the breach. However,
conflicts based on national ambitions run too deep to be solved by changes in
personnel.
The mutual recriminations which have split the Communist "monolith"
might be thought of as-a source of comfort to nations threatened by Communism's
aggressive creed. However, this split merely means that there are now two
main sources of subversion in the world instead of one, and that these two
sources may intensify their drives because of that competition. Their tactics
differ but their aims remain the same. They are agreed that Communists must
conquer the world. Their quarrel is primarily concerned with who should rule
within the Communist world.
The explosion of nuclear bombs by the Communist Chinese was significant,
mainly because it demonstrated that in the course of time this weapon of
tremendous destructive capabilities would be added to the arsenal of a regime
which advocates violent tactics of conquest. The world is not reassured either
by the platitudes uttered by Mao Tse-tung, or by his self-contradictory
statements.
The scientific and industrial complex which has been necessary to build
the nuclear bomb has also created a new area of vulnerability for the Chinese
Communists. The regime has now more to lose. A recent news item reveals
how seriously the regime takes this vulnerability: it states that "a million
young Chinese have been sent to the Sinkiang province to build defences around
the Chinese nuclear installations there." It is to be hoped that the Chinese
Communists will inform themselves fully on the inevitable effects of a nuclear
duel.
Responsible nations of the world have sought, through the United Nations
and through collective defence pacts, to establish systems of peace under the
rule of law. Using a variety of means, attempts have been made to settle
international disputes by peaceful means, by discussions or negotiation. The
record speaks for itself with regard to the present situation in South-East Asia.
Over and over again, peace-seeking overtures have been made by neutral
nations and by nations which are supporting the defensive actions of the
Government of South Viet-Nam. The United Kingdom and Canada individually,
and the British Commonwealth collectively, have initiated moves for a peaceful
solution. Seventeen unaligned nations joined together in proposals for this
purpose. The United Nations has been asked to assume a larger role in South-
East Asia, and the member nations have been asked to use their influence to
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bring the conflict to the conference table. The United States has initiated or
supported, on at least fifteen occasions, efforts to resolve the issues by peaceful
negotiations. The United States has also stated that it is prepared to engage
in negotiations or discussions with no prior conditions.
Yet the Communist nations have spurned every overture. The Communist
proposal for settling the Vietnamese problem is that, first, all United States
troops shall leave before any negotiations or discussions can take place; and
that the affairs of Viet-Nam shall be settled in accordance with the principles
of the Communist fronts, the Fatherland Front in the North and the Liberation
Front in the South. No consideration is given to the South Vietnamese people
who have shown by their long and determined struggle that they do not wish
to fall under Communist domination.
The SEATO Council, meeting in London in April this year, declared :
"Every effort should be made to promote a satisfactory and lasting settlement
of the conflict which would ensure the right of the South Vietnamese people
to pursue their future in peace and complete freedom from external interference."
(The French Government did not participate in preparing the communique;
however, this statement is not contrary to France's previously stated position.)
The SEATO Council communique of London also declared it to be
"self-evident that, if the aggression were ended, the Governments and people
of both South and North Viet-Nam could live in peace and devote their energies
to economic and social progress." Two proposals which would enrich the lives
and hopes of the people of South-East Asia - whatever their ideological views -
have been brought forward. The United Nations Commission for Asia and the
Far East (ECAFE) is organizing an Asian Development Bank which, as the
name implies, would assist in the promotion of economic progress. Also, President
Johnson has proposed the establishment of a fund for a similar purpose and has
pledged a billion dollar contribution. These proposals are open to Communist
and non-Communist nations alike. Acceptance by nations from both sides would
put the welfare of the people outside the sphere of political conflict. The
respective national decisions will give an indication of the course of future
events.
Eventually, the Communist nations must be made to realize that deprivation
of liberty and destruction of human values cannot prevail against the rights and
aspirations of man. The Marxist dogma of 1848, with its various subsequent
turnings, cannot provide satisfactory answers to 20th century problems. Today
we must build a world of peace based on justice, with penalties for those who
violate these principles.
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The Role of Collective a ence
The need for preservation of national sovereignty leads logically to collective
defence. The eight signatories of the Manila Pact pledged themselves to seek
peaceful solutions of international disputes and to act to meet the common danger
in case of aggression by armed attack. They also agreed to co-operate in economic
development.
In the interests of peace and freedom, it is the purpose of SEATO to
provide military strength for the defence of the people and economic strength
to serve them.
Military Defence
SEATO military defence activities during the year under review - as in
previous years - included military planning, various conferences and meetings,
and large-scale military exercises.
The SEATO Military Advisers held their 22nd meeting in London
from April 28 to 30, 1965. This photograph was taken at the
opening session of the conference, which took place at Lancaster House.
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Military Planning
The Organization's military planning staff situated in Bangkok is continually
engaged in preparation of defence plans for the Treaty Area. This permanent
planning responsibility is carried out by selected officers from the various services
of armed forces contributed by member nations.
The Chief of the Military Planning Office, under the direction of the
Military Advisers, ensures that current defence plans are continually revised and
refined to meet likely defence contingencies.
Conferences and Meetings
During the past year, two Military Advisers' Conferences were held: one
in Bangkok in October 1964, and the other immediately before the SEATO
Council Meeting in London in April 1965. As a normal procedure, throughout
the year Military Advisers were constantly in contact with one another and
with their representatives in the Military Planning Office in Bangkok.
Specialist committees which met at SEATO Headquarters during the year
Communications-Electronics Working Party
Co-ordination Conference
Intelligence Committee
Co-ordination Conference
Meteorological Committee
Co-ordination Conference
Logistics Committee
July 1964
September 1964
November 1964
November-December 1964
December 1964
February 1965
June 1965.
Military Exercises
Scheduled training exercises are held regularly to maintain the highest
level of teamwork among member nations. Various types of land, sea and air
manoeuvres have provided opportunities for member nation forces to fit them
for any fighting role they may be required to carry out in defence of the Treaty
Area. Joint exercises, starting with relatively simple operations in 1956, have
evolved into complex manoeuvres involving tens of thousands of men. Co-operation,
co-ordination and general skills have greatly improved with these combined
operations, 29 of which have now been held.
During the training year 1964-65, two military exercises were held. The
first was Exercise Log Train, a logistics exercise centred at Korat, north-east
Thailand, in March 1965; and the second, Exercise Sea Horse, a maritime
operation held in the South China Sea in May 1965.
Exercise Log Train, the first of its type, involved 900 officers and specialists
of SEATO's eight nations. Its principal aim was to test the effectiveness of
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Warships and aircraft close in on a submarine during SEATO
Exercise "Sea Horse"_ The teamwork developed by the SEATO
navies is illustrated in this typical combined operation.
SEATO logistical procedures. The 14-day exercise thoroughly tested the movement
and supply technique., of SEATO forces. Exercise Log Train was officially
opened by the Prime Minister of Thailand, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn.
Exercise Sea Horse involved 31 naval ships and 130 aircraft of Australia,
New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United
States. The main purpose of the exercise was to test the ability of SEATO
navies to escort a military convoy across the South China Sea. The maritime
operation began at Manila and continued for ten days before ending at Bangkok.
During that time, realistic convoy exercises were staged in which air, submarine
and surface attacks were made on the convoy. Replenishment at sea also was
practised during the 2,000 miles covered by the ships.
Bilateral Assistance between SEATO Member Nations
Mutual military aid programs have continued during the past year,
enhancing considerably the combat effectiveness of member nation force. Apart
from the provision of equipment and training assistance, two major bilateral
projects have been undertaken.
At Loeng Nok Tha, near Mukdaharn in north-eastern Thailand, a
strategic airfield is nearing completion by United Kingdom Army engineers,
assisted by Australian and New Zealand elements. The Prime Minister of
Thailand, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, officially opened the airfield on
June 17, 1965.
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On the north-western outskirts of Bangkok, a large base workshop is
close to completion. This Thai-Australian project, in which various types of vehicles
will be rebuilt, is sponsored by the Australian Government and the Thai Ministry
of Defence under the auspices of SEATO. Thailand has contributed about 60
per cent of the cost in the form of buildings, accommodation and other site
facilities, while Australia is providing machine tools, workshop equipment,
structural steel and technical staff to supervise installation of equipment and to
train Thai personnel, at a total cost of #A396,000. The workshop will soon
be capable of rebuilding 20 vehicles per week.
To provide basic training for future technical supervisors, foremen, skilled
workmen and instructors of the Royal Thai Army, Navy and Air Force workshops
and schools, a SEATO Military Technical Training School was established six
years ago by the Thai Government, with assistance in the form of staff, equipment
and training aids from Australia. As a second element of the Skilled Labour
Project in Thailand, the school has since become a going concern, offering a
three-year course to some 200 students. The Australian instructional staff, which
had served at the school since its establishment, completed its mission in
January 1964.
Rear Admiral Satap Keyanon (left), of the Royal Thai Navy, on the
flight deck of the Australian flagship, HMAS Melbourne, with the
Flag Officer Commanding the Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral T.K.
Morrison. Admiral Satap visited the Australian carrier by helicopter
during SEATO Exercise "Sea Horse", staged in the South China Sea.
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 The Prime Minister of Thailand, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn,
reads the commemorative plaque he had just unveiled at the official
opening of a new strategic airfield at Loeng Nok Tha, North-East
Thailand. At left is the British Ambassador to Thailand, Sir Anthony
Rumbold. The airfield was built by army engineers from Britain,
Australia and New Zealand as a SEATO contribution to Thailand's defence.
Defence Against Subversion
Communist parties use many tactics of subversion. They engage in
widespread propaganda: radio, pamphlets, news releases, books, cultural programs.
They create "front organizations", ostensibly innocuous, whose purpose it is to
subvert. They join groups of political parties in a "united front" in which
they maintain their own strict party discipline and design. They form secret
cells to bore from within societies. They set up puppet "national liberation"
movements or "patriotic fronts" which are neither national, free nor patriotic.
These are some of the tactics of Communist subversion. Constant
vigilance is required to guard against these foreign-dominated activities in a
nation.
The primary responsibility in countering subversion rests with the nation
itself. However, SEATO can best serve by collecting and analyzing reports of
Communist activities in the area. This co-ordination is carried out through the
Special Assistant for Counter-subversion and the Research Office at SEATO
Headquarters, and through the regular meetings of the Intelligence Assessment
Committee which is composed of representatives of member nations.
In addition to this overall evaluation of the threat, SEATO also provides
facilities for focusing attention on specific problems of member nations and for
channelling needed assistance in training or materials.
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Economic Situation & Mutual Assistance
Despite international disturbances which made the situation in South-East
Asia markedly more critical during the year under review, economic progress
among the Asian members of SEATO has been satisfactory in terms of national
development plans and SEATO's efforts to foster closer economic co-operation
among member countries. All the three Asian members-Pakistan, the Philippines
and Thailand-have registered significant advances which provide grounds for
sustained optimism.
Under its Second Five-Year Plan, which ended on June 30, 1.965, Pakistan
had an average annual growth rate of approximately 6 per cent, a considerable
advance over the 2.7 per cent annual growth rate achieved during the preceding
decade, 1950-60. With a growth rate of over 5 per cent during the year 1964-65,
the overall increase in gross national product at the end of the period came
close to 30 per cent. This exceeds the planned target of 24 per cent by a wide
margin.
The industrial sector, which registered a growth rate of 15 per cent,
contributed 12.8 per cent of the country's gross national product. The most
notable gains on this account were made in the fields of cotton textiles, jute
manufactures, sugar, vegetable oil, cigarettes, fertilizers, chemicals and electrical
goods.
Export earnings recorded a growth rate of 40 per cent as against the
estimated growth rate of 30 per cent in the gross national product. As the country
embarks on its Third Five-Year Plan, high priority is being given to further
increases in agricultural and industrial production, as also to the narrowing of
the gap between foreign exchange earnings and import requirements through
the expansion of the production of exportable surpluses and the promotion of
domestic substitutes for imports.
The healthy performance of the Philippine economy during the year is
indicated by the growth of production in practically all sectors. Manufacturing
showed a robust 10.7 per cent expansion. Mining registered a 6.3 per cent
increase in output while agricultural production advanced by 6 per cent, export
crops gaining about 15 per cent in the first half of the period. Employment
went up in every major non-agricultural line and more than 8,000 new business
enterprises were organized during the year. Foreign exchange receipts from
exports exceeded import payments by about $US29 million for a favourable
trade balance. Gross national product increased by 6.2 per cent over the previous
year.
The economy of Thailand showed an improvement over the previous year.
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Output of major agricultural, industrial and mining products increased markedly.
Rice production, which went up to a record level of 10.17 million tons, was an
important factor in raising the country's international reserves by about $US69.1
inillion and in lessening the country's overall trade deficit of the previous year
by almost 50 per cent.
Economic co-operation and mutual assistance among SEATO countries
continue strongly. A SEATO group of economic experts met in Bangkok from
February 22 to March 5, 1965, and in a wide-ranging survey recommended a
number of specific measures for the improvement of economic relations among
the member nations. Topics covered by the group, which was composed of 20
experts and advisers from all eight member countries, included trade, agriculture,
industry, communications and other economic activities.
SEATO assistance to the Asian member countries takes many forms.
During 1964-65, Australia, whose special SEATO aid program amounts to some
$US2,250,000 a year, was responsible for the supply of machinery, electrical
equipment and other services for various technical schools in Pakistan, as well
as to the SEATO skilled labour and cholera research projects in that country.
Passenger motor buses were given to the Philippines. In Thailand, Australia is
providing an adviser to assist in the establishment of the Hill Tribes Research
and Training Centre at Chiengmai, and vehicles for the centre. Technical
assistance and equipment are also being provided for a radio transmitter project
at the north-east centres of Khonkaen, Korat and Ubol.
The Hill Tribes Research and Training Centre at Chiengmai,
which was established in 1965. Several SEATO member
nations contributed to the establishment of the centre.
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Members of the Queensland Parliament inspect machinery at the
Vehicle Rebuild Workshop at Rangsit, near Bangkok, a new Thai-
Australian project under SEATO. From left : Captain A.G.
McFarlane, Australian Services' Attache at Bangkok, Mr. K. Spann,
Mr. M.H. Thackeray, Mr. H. Richter (leader of the parliamentary
group), Mr. W.M. Ewan, Lt. Col. R.D. White (senior Australian
project officer), Mr. J.E. Duggan and Mr. S.R. Ramsden.
France is extending technical assistance to the project for the restoration
of the Phimai ruins in Thailand and has provided equipment for the Thai-
SEATO Regional Community Development Technical Assistance Centre at Ubol,
north-east Thailand.
New Zealand has provided services and equipment to the Community
Development Centre at Ubol and is contributing with other member nations to
the scholarship fund of the SEATO Graduate School of Engineering. Donations
in the form of field equipment have been made to the Thai Border Police.
The United Kingdom has continued to contribute equipment and technical
experts to the SEATO Graduate School of Engineering and the Pakistan-SEATO
Cholera Research Laboratory. During the year, it has also made contributions
to the Community Development Centre at Ubol, the SEATO Skilled Labour
projects and the Hill Tribes Centre in Chiengmai. Two mobile medical units
are due to arrive in Thailand shortly as a British contribution to the work of
the Mobile Development Units in sensitive areas of the country.
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The extensive economic aid programs of the United States in South-East
Asia include assistance to the various SEATO projects, particularly in the fields
of education, medical research, community development and improvement of
communications. The massive aid program for South-East Asia, announced by
President Johnson early this year, provides a forecast of benefits which would
directly or indirectly affect the Asian members of SEATO.
Students at work in the structures laboratory of the
SEATO Graduate School of Engineering in Bangkok.
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 Leading academic figures from South-East Asian countries came to
Bangkok in March 1965 to take part in the Seminar on Engineering
Education sponsored by the SEATO Graduate School of Engineering.
Here, Dean Piset Pattabhongse, of the Faculty of Engineering
of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok (left), Dr. Oscar Baguio,
Dean of the Engineering College, University of the Philippines, and
Dr. Syed Mahmood Alain, Principal of the N.E.D. Government Engi-
neering College, Karachi, Pakistan (right) are shown in discussion.
SEA TO Projects
SEATO Graduate School of Engineering
The SEATO Graduate School of Engineering in Bangkok completed its
fifth year of operation on September 8, 1964. Thirty-seven master's degrees
were awarded in March 1965: 8 of the graduates were from Pakistan, 7 from
the Philippines, 3 from Taiwan and 19 from Thailand. To date, 111 graduates
have received degrees from the school.
For the academic year 1965-66, there is an enrolment of 94, of whom
56 are first-year students, carefully selected from a great number of applicants.
Thirty-eight students are in their second and final year of study. Of the total
enrolment, 18 are from Pakistan, 29 from the Philippines, 41 from Thailand,
2 from Malaysia, 1 from Hongkong, 2 from Taiwan and 1 from South Viet-Nam.
Applications for admission from graduates in all South-East Asian countries are
considered.
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The school now offers majors in hydraulic, structural, transportation and
public health engineering. The current teaching staff is drawn from France,
Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Special lectures, seminars and conferences are sponsored by the school in
addition to academic courses. The school also undertakes research projects for
governmental and private organizations and receives direct income on this
account.
The school has achieved a reputation for high standards in post-graduate
engineering education and is fulfilling a great need in South-East Asia. An
expert study group (composed of leading academicians in engineering from the
member countries), which met in Bangkok in December 1964, made a list of
recommendations relating to its future.
The school is at present supported financially on the basis of annual grants
but efforts are being made to give the institution a permanent financial
foundation.
Skilled Labour Projects
In Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, national efforts to meet the
increasing demands of developing industries for trained workers and skilled
technicians are being complemented by the SEATO Skilled Labour Project.
There are now two SEATO skilled labour training centres in Pakistan : one
at North Nazimabad, Karachi inaugurated. on May 3, 1963, and the other at
The SEATO Technical Training Centre at Mirpur, Dacca,
East Pakistan, held its first graduation ceremony ,in March,
1965. The Provincial Minister of Finance, Mr. Hafizur
Rahman, hands a certificate to one of the 123 graduates.
 An instructor demonstrates welding techniques to a student
at the SEATO Military Technical Training School, Bangkok.
Mirpur, Dacca, inaugurated on February 3, 1964. These centres, which have
a total enrolment of some 900 students, provide a course lasting 18 months and
offer training in basic skills in the machine tool, electrical and woodworking
trades. They also have facilities for the training of teachers in technical education.
One indication of the need for these centres is the heavy demand for enrolment.
The project in Pakistan, sponsored by SEATO, is supported by the Governments
of Pakistan and the United States, with assistance in the form of equipment
and books from the United Kingdom.
In Thailand, the SEATO Skilled Labour Project has been responsible for
the establishment of 20 trade training schools in provincial cities and a teacher
development centre in Bangkok. About 2,300 students graduated from these
schools in 1965. There is a total enrolment of 7,444 students for the academic
year 1965-66. The schools offer three-year training courses in automotive and
diesel mechanics, building construction, machine shop techniques, welding and
sheet metal work, basic electricity, radio and telecommunications. The Teacher
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Development Centre, which has an enrolment capacity of 280 trainees, provides
training for teachers for the project schools and other technical training
establishments.
As the program in Thailand is now well established, outside financial
support has virtually ceased. The aid project formally phased out on June 30,
1965, after almost seven years of work. The United States contributed
$US1,835,000 to the total cost of the project and the Thai Government $US900,000
in baht from the Counterpart Fund. The United Kingdom made contributions
of machine tools, published text material, automotive and diesel engines and
transport for supervisory travel, worth in all $US80,000.
The SEATO Skilled Labour Project in the Philippines has been responsible
for the completion of a survey of labour market information and a pilot apprentice
training program. Equipment has also been provided for the textile training
department of the Marikina School of Arts and Trades which now offers a variety
of trade courses.
Telecommunications Project
SEATO's interest in telecommunications dates from 1959 when it was
decided to improve the telecommunications system for gathering and transmitting
meteorological and aeronautical information between the Asian member countries.
In 1961-62, the Thailand - Philippines section of the project was approved.
Eighty-nine teachers from 20 SEATO vocational training schools in the
provincial centres of Thailand attended a seminar at the Teacher
Development Centre in Bangkok, in April 1965. Shown here at a session
on radio and telecommunications are, left to right, Mr. Serm Srilohapan,
from Songkhla, Mr. Thanit Savetvajaree (instructor), Mr. Charoon
Ruangklin from Tak, and Mr. Sanan Chiemmuangpak from Ubol.
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All initial planning and engineering for the Thai element have been
completed and about 98 per cent of the major equipment and supplies needed
have been received from the United States. The installation of transmitters and
circuits, as also the installation of all message centre terminal equipment in a
new communications centre, and of meteorological equipment at the Meteorological
Department of Thailand, are nearing completion. Many technicians have completed
further training in the United States.
A report on the Philippines element of the project records progress in the
installation of equipment and states that the last three of seven Filipino participants
scheduled for training in the United States are expected to complete their courses
in 1965. In-service training has been started in Manila for personnel engaged
in the installation of the equipment.
The SEATO Meteorological Telecommunications Project is one aspect of
the broadening interest of the Organization in the field of telecommunications.
A SEATO Expert Study Group on Telecommunications met in Bangkok
from June 28 to July 2, 1965, and made recommendations for improvements to
communications among the SEATO countries. The experts' report, which covers
cable, troposcatter and microwave links in the region, is now under consideration
by member countries.
Medical Research
Activities in medical research under SEATO sponsorship are providing
part of the essential background to economic and social advancement in South-
East Asia. Three SEATO projects in this field are now well established.
Founded in Bangkok in 1960, the SEATO Medical Research Laboratory
has five departments: bacteriology and immunology, medical zoology, medical
entomology, pathology and virology, and a special projects division. As a centre
for the study of major diseases common to countries in South-East Asia, their
means of transmission and social background, the laboratory has made significant
contributions to scientific knowledge. It has been responsible for the identification
of the virus and carrier of haemorrhagic fever and the identification of the liver
fluke parasite and its life cycle.
The laboratory, which receives its main support from Thailand and the
United States, is advancing its research studies on malaria, haemorrhagic fever,
viral hepatitis, poliomyelitis, venereal disease, encephalitis, liver, lung and blood
flukes, rickettsial diseases, enteric infections, melioidosis, anthrax, leptospirosis and
rabies. Aside from research activities, the laboratory provides training for medical
graduates and hospital technicians. Eminent medical specialists from various
countries have visited the laboratory and have given lectures and participated in
conferences.
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An extensive bird-banding program has been undertaken in Thailand by the
SEATO Medical Research Laboratory to add to knowledge of the migratory
patterns of various species and to determine whether birds are significant
disease carriers. Dr. Joe Marshall (centre) releases a swallow after banding.
Working with him are Mr. Noel Kobayashi (left) and Mr. Ben King.
SEATO Clinical Research Centre
To meet the need for a centre which would find ways of improving
diagnosis and the treatment and medical management of patients and would train
teachers in medical education and the basic medical sciences, SEATO established
a Clinical Research Centre in Bangkok in 1963.
The Clinical Research Centre has executive and scientific operational staffs,
and areas of investigation are : nutritional studies - initially thiamine deficiency
and metabolism, anaemias - studies of haemoglobin types and enzyme-deficiency,
heart disease, malaria, and bladder stone research. These projects create the
framework for the research now being done, but this will probably be modified
in form and function with project changes to include many diverse clinical
research problems in South-East Asia.
An excellently equipped five-storey building for the centre is scheduled
for completion this year by the Thai Government. The wards will accommodate
forty patients, chosen from other hospitals in Bangkok and outlying areas. The
biochemistry laboratories will form the core of the centre's work and there will
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also be diagnostic procedural facilities, operating rooms, X-ray equipment and
a radio-isotope section. The cardiac catheterization clinic will be in the centre's
new building. The centre's equipment affords facilities for testing and medical
research that, in many instances, cannot be found elsewhere in South-East Asia.
It will offer facilities for research and training in cardiology, metabolism
and endocrinology, renal diseases, gastro-intestinal and infectious diseases, nutrition,
trauma, radiology, nuclear medicine and radio-isotopes, microbiology, biochemistry
and biophysics. it will also provide opportunities for research fellows working
for master and doctoral degrees from their own universities to undertake field
studies in biochemistry, bacteriology and physiology.
Pakistan-SEATO Cholera Research Laboratory
The gravity of cholera in the countries of South-East Asia led SEATO
to sponsor cholera research in Bangkok in 1959. Research activity was transferred
in 1960 to Dacca, East Pakistan. This is the historic seedbed of cholera and
the most significant area in the world for the study of the cholera patient, his
environment and the organism itself.
The identiliaction 0/ the 11/e cycle of liver _ftlcle, a disease prevalent
in North-East 1 /iailand, is one of the achieuc vents of the SEATO
.1v1edical Re.y ar r la Laboratory. Here, Major- Dale Wvko/f , ,form('r
('hiel of the i)croartnaent of 1ledual Zoology, goes over stages in the
'i)arasitc's Ii/,, c clc with laboratory technician :Hiss l3uresiri Truk-udom.
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The Cholera Research Laboratory has since been designated as the
official cholera treatment centre for the Dacca area.
Research studies during the past year have covered five general functional
areas : studies of the patient and the disease, the pathogenesis of cholera, studies
of the vibrio, community studies and vaccine study. Significant findings have
been made in each of these areas. The efficacy of simplified ways of treatment
is under continual test and better definition is being made of the symptoms and
causes of a group of cases known as "non-vibrio cholera". A means of almost
instantaneous specific diagnosis of the majority of cholera cases has been
developed. The study of vaccines is being carried out in a group of 23 villages
and is currently being extended to 35 additional villages.
The Cholera Research Laboratory is supported principally by Australia,
Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States. All member nations are
represented on the laboratory's panel of expert consultants.
Pakistani medical staff watch as Dr. Alexander Langmuir (left)
Chief of the Epidemiology Section of the Communicable Disease
Center, U.S. Office of Public Health, and Dr. Robert Oseasohn,
Chief of Epidemiology at the Pakistan-SEATO Cholera Research
Laboratory, examine a patient. They were visiting a field
hospital for cholera victims established in a barge at Matlab
Bazar, 40 miles from Dacca, where the laboratory is situated.
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Delegates to the SEATO Seminar on Community Di'r'elopment. held at Bangkok
in July 1965 made it one-day visit to the Thai .SEATO Regional Community
Development Technical Assistance Centre at Uhol, North-East Thailand. They
also inspected community development projects in villages. Here, at Bang Non.
moon, the preparation of silk yarn for weaving is demonstrated to SEATO
.Secretary-(ieneral .Jesus Vargas (left), Mr. Sukit Chullanandana, Chief of the
'I 'raining Division, Community I)evelopment Department. Ministry of the
Interior, and Mr. G. 1'. Linsley (right) Australian participant in the seminar.
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Community Development
The Thai-SEATO Regional Community Development Technical Assistance
Centre at Ubol supports the Thai Government's community development program
in the north-east in terms of technical services, research, supervision and training.
SEATO member nations helped to establish the centre in 1962 and 1963 by
contributing the services of experts and by providing equipment and livestock.
The staff of the centre is composed of technicians and specialists from
Government agencies concerned with various aspects of the program. It is
equiped with construction equipment and materials to assist local community
development or "self-help" works projects.
The centre arranges training courses for village leaders. It provides
information to farmers on improved methods of agriculture and livestock
management and is engaged in the improvement of water supplies and public
health education activities. Through its community education program, the
centre informs the people of the Government's work for rural development and
helps to establish confidence and co-operation between officials and village folk.
In July 1965, SEATO sponsored a Seminar on Community Development
in Bangkok. Sixteen expert participants, representing all member countries,
took part and over 200 observers attended the seminar sessions.
In August 1963, the Ministry of the Interior of the Thai Government
submitted a request to SEATO for assistance in providing equipment for a Hill
Tribes Research and Training Centre at Chiengmai in northern Thailand. The
centre, now in operation, serves the needs of the Hill Tribes Program of the
Ministry of the Interior by providing facilities for research and for the training
of research workers and officials working among the tribes.
Australia has contributed motor vehicles and the services of an anthropologist
who is the adviser to the Ministry of the Interior on the establishment of the
centre.
The United Kingdom has given books for the centre's library; equipment
has been provided by the United States.
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Cultural Program
Through a well-established cultural program, SEATO aims at promoting
better knowledge, understanding and friendship among member nations and,
indeed, it is already setting an example in co-operation in this field for the
entire region of South-East Asia.
In addition to being a positive contribution to the material advancement
of the Asian member countries, the cultural program aims to preserve and
promote all that ire good and healthy in their cultural heritage and traditions.
A Conference of Heads of Universities, held in Karachi in 1960 under
the aegis of SEATO, resulted in the commissioning of a survey of Asian
universities to determine the problems that stand in the way of a freer exchange
of students. A Commission on University Equivalences met in Bangkok in 1963
and drafted a convention, the aim of which is to facilitate a freer exchange of
scholars. The convention will be signed at Manila by representatives of the
Governments of Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand on September 8, 1965,
the eleventh anniversary of the founding of the South-East Asia Treaty
Organization. This instrument assumes added significance as the first of its kind
in Asia.
11 study of the iodine content of various materials and their relationship
to the incidence o . goitre teas completed in 1965 by Dr. Romsai
Suwanik, Professor of Radiology at Sirirai Hospital and Medical School,
Bangkok, with the aid of a SEATO research award. Dr. Romsai (wearing-
glasses) is shown explaining the ftenction of the equipment he used to Dr.
Artemio S. Rodriguez, SEATO Cultural Officer (ri~lzt). Operating the equip-
ntent are Miss 'sonzlak Kositakarm, a physicist, and f)r- Rudee Pleehachinula.
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Mr. K.A. Haseeb of Pakistan, SEATO post-graduate scholar at the
University of the Philippines, with the apparatus he designed for the rapid
coating of tablets while working for his master's degree in pharmacy. Mr.
Haseeb's invention has aroused wide interest in the pharmaceutical industry.
In the sphere of education, the Organization has established continuing
projects. It sponsors two scholarship plans. The first of these provides grants
for deserving undergraduates in the three Asian member countries to enable
them to complete the final year of their first degree course. Unlike other
SEATO cultural awards, which are directly administered from Headquarters,
the undergraduate scholarships are allotted by national authorities who receive
an annual grant for this purpose. Some 170 awards have so far been given.
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The second plan provides twelve post-graduate scholarships, distributed
equally between Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, and available to
graduates for studies leading to a higher degree in a university of an Asian
member country other than their own. Scholars are thus provided with the
opportunity not only to improve their academic qualifications but also to gain
first-hand experience and insight into the people, the language and the customs
and traditions of their host country. These scholarships cover a period of from
one to three years depending on the requirements of particular courses of study.
Since the inauguration of the scheme in 1960, two scholars have earned doctorates
and 29 master's degrees. Thirty-five scholars are currently at work.
Fellowships are also provided for senior scholars intending to do post-
doctoral work. Nationals of all member countries are eligible. Eleven awards
are available each year for research, teaching or for specialized training. Eighty-
one fellowships have been availed of since 1958.
SEATO also provides grants at the highest academic level. Each year,
at the request of the Asian Member Governments, SEATO makes available the
services of a professor from a specified member country for a requested discipline.
Since the inception of the professorship program in 1959, eleven professors have
served seventeen annual terms. SEATO professors are engaged not only in
teaching and counselling but at times also in independent research.
2i
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Lt. Gen. Jesus M. Vargas of the Philippines was formally installed
General of SEATO at a ceremony at SEATO
in office as Secretary
5. In this photo, the Australian
July 1, 196
Headquarters on J
Ambassador to Thailand, Mr. A.H. Lo m es (rfor July, id ight) who, as eCe hairmann.
of the SEATO Council Repr General, delivers his address.
Vargas with the office of Secretary
Seated at the table with Mr. Loomes are Gen. Vargas (left) and
the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Mr. Thanat Khoman.
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 s
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This booklet is published by the South-East
Asia Treaty Organization. Inquiries concern-
ing SEATO publications should be made to
the Public Information Office, SEATO Head-
quarters, P.O. Box 517, Bangkok, Thailand.
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