Bangkok’s China ties in focus as US-Thailand ‘Cobra Gold’ military drills return – but smaller

One of the Asia-Pacific’s longest-running military drills co-hosted by Thailand and the United States will take place from Sunday to March 5, but in scaled-down fashion given the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.Some 3,460 personnel, about a third of the pre-pandemic figures, will take part in this year’s Cobra Gold, including 1,953 Thai troops and 1,296 Americans, it was announced at a Thai military press conference earlier this month joined by the US Chargé d’Affaires Michael Heath.Of…