Tillerson in Thailand presses for more action on North Korea

Tillerson's top priority has been urging Southeast Asian countries to do more to cut funding streams for North Korea.

The United States believes North Korean front companies are active in Thailand and is trying to encourage the Thais to shut them down, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton told reporters aboard Tillerson's plane. The companies are using Bangkok as a regional hub and change their names frequently, she said.

Before meeting Tillerson, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thailand would support a UN resolution on new sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile tests. But he made no mention of specific action.

The United States was encouraging Thailand to take as many North Korean refugees as it can handle, Thornton said. Reuters reported exclusively last week that the number of North Koreans slipping illegally into Thailand has surged in recent months.Thailand's own politics and human rights record were also in focus, as Washington strengthens relations with its oldest ally in the region after they were downgraded following the coup.

"We want Thailand to emerge as a strengthened democracy that respects and guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms at home and plays a leading role in advancing regional security and prosperity," a US embassy spokesman said.

Tillerson offered no specific message on human rights when he spoke to the American community at the ambassador's residence and highlighted the 200-year-old relationship.

"We want to continue to grow that relationship, even in its ups and downs," he said.

Tillerson met Thailand's foreign minister, Don Pramudwinai, before junta chief Prayuth. Don also emphasised support for the U.N. resolution on North Korea.

Following his meeting with Tillerson, Don told reporters in Bangkok that trade between Thailand and North Korea had dropped by as much as 94 percent over the past year.

"Thailand will act as a good member of the United Nations ... one result is trade which dropped significantly. It dropped 94 percent," Don told reporters.

US President Donald Trump has spoken to Prayuth by telephone and invited him to the White House, but no date has been set yet.

Human rights groups have voiced concern about the re-establishment of normal relations while Thailand's junta continues to crack down on critics. "It would be a practical mistake for Tillerson to not condition positive diplomatic relations on improvements in the protection of human rights," Matthew Smith, of the Fortify Rights group, told Reuters.

Thailand's military seized power in May 2014 after months of street protests with a promise to eventually restore democracy, but elections will not happen before next year and a new constitution retains a powerful political say for the army.

Since the coup, Thailand has aligned itself more closely with Beijing, and this year approved purchases of more than $500 million worth of Chinese submarines, tanks and helicopters, besides construction of a new rail link.

The US and the international community is "not going to run scared from North Korea", US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said after Pyongyang refused to roll back its nuclear weapons programme. "All of us should be concerned about what's happening right now. But I think the signs that we're seeing from North Korea, they're concerned back. Now they see the international community is standing with one voice. China didn't pull off.

Russia didn't pull off. And all of the Security Council and the international community said that's enough. You've got to stop it," Haley told Fox News in an interview. "It's reckless. It's irresponsible. And the international community really laid down the groundwork of saying we're not going to watch you do this anymore. Now, North Korea has to respond. And yes, they're going to threaten, they're going to do all these things. But we're not going to run scared from them," the top Indian-American diplomat said.