Yet, the strategic value of the alliance remains high. U.S. access to Thailand’s military facilities,
particularly the strategically located and well-equipped Utapao airbase, is considered invaluable.
Utapao has been suggested as a permanent Southeast Asian Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster
Relief (HADR) hub. It can receive large aircraft (including C-17s and C-130s) it is close to a deep
seaport; and it has infrastructure capable of handling command and control systems. The U.S.
military used Utapao for refueling efforts during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s,
as well as for multinational relief efforts after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and April 2015
Nepal earthquake. Thailand hosts the annual Cobra Gold exercises, the largest multilateral
military exercise in Asia. The 2015 exercises proceeded with U.S. participation despite the coup,
and the United States has said it will also proceed with the 2016 exercises.