“Cobra Gold” - the largest multilateral military exercise in Asia that America has been co-hosting with Thailand since 1982—long before China’s rise and irrespective of Thailand’s position as a democracy or dictatorship.

+ troops take part; 29 countries participate or observe.

exercise began on 14 Feb this year (2017). America will use the occasion to urge its Asian allies to steer clear of China and block its interests. But junta-ruled Thailand has been playing hard to get, its relationship with China warming and that with America increasingly resembling a marriage based on memories of a happier past.