As Thailand entered another difficult period characterised by the ideological conflict of the Cold War, Thai leaders resurrected the 'bending with the prevailing wind strategy to cope with changes in the country's foreign affairs. The fact that the United States came to Thailand's rescue at the end of the Second World War and that it rapidly emerged as a superpower leading the Western world compelled Thailand to endorse a pro-American foreign policy. Internal and external circumstances reinforced Thailand's pro-American stance, ranging from the persistent military regimes at home to the outbreak of the communist threat in the neighborhood. The United States was content to tolerate Thailand's despotic regimes so long as Bangkok continued to implement an anti-communist foreign policy? Aligning with the United States, in return legitimised the role of the military in politics, in which protecting national security represented the most quintessential goal in the conduct ofThai diplomacy.