On 13 May 2005, Dr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, held separate bilateral talks with Dr. Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, and senior members of the Administration, Congress and business sector, namely, Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Robert Portman, US Trade Representative, and Mr. Matt Daley, President of the US-ASEAN Business Council. During the meeting between Foreign Minister Kantathi and Dr. Rice, both sides exchanged views on ways and means to strengthen the bilateral close and cordial relations and cooperation between Thailand and the US, particularly in the fields of counter-terrorism, trade and security. The US Secretary of State told her Thai counterpart that the US would like to see Thailand playing more active role in the international arena as well. During the meeting with the US Trade Representative, the Thai Foreign Minister stressed that the on-going FTA negotiations between Thailand and the US must be conducted on both free and fair manner and bring mutual benefits to both sides. As a country with democratic society, the Thai Government must reach out to the views of the civil society as well as the businesses who stand to be affected. One of the concerns among the Thai people is the issue of pharmaceutical patents and the effects on price of medicine, especially HIV/AIDS drug.

Therefore, negotiations in this area should be balanced between the rights of pharmaceutical companies and the people’s need to have access to life-saving medicine. On this occasion, the Thai Foreign Minister also asked the USTR to expedite the review of the US anti-dumping tax, currently imposed on the Thai exports i.e. shrimps, which have been detrimental affected by the Tsunami disaster.
During the meeting with Senator Lugar, both sides exchanged views on the opportunity for possibility of cooperation between Thailand and the US in the field of alternative clean energy and the latest political situation in Myanmar.

Later, Foreign Minister Dr. Kantathi met with the President of US-ASEAN Business Council, the ASEAN Ambassadors to the US and the representatives of USC alumni. He also gave live interviews to the CNN regarding the post-Tsunami rehabilitation programme in Thailand.