after the joint press conference, the Prime Minister and the US Secretary of State open for Q&A session at Outer Santi Maitree Building. Gist as follow;

1. AFP: I wanted to follow up a little bit on what you’re talking about the political reconciliation. You mentioned that with the floods, Madam Secretary, with the floods that it was important to have reconciliation. For both of you, do you feel that all sides in Thailand are on the same side right now at this time of floods? Are people working together? What are the signs you see on that?And if I can kind of follow up to the prime minister, there have been reports that your cabinet is working on an amnesty that could potentially affect former Prime Minister Thaksin. I wanted to see if you could comment on that, say whether that is true, and if so, why?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I will start by reiterating that we have encouraged the Thai Government to continue to move forward with the political reconciliation process, to address the violence that surrounded the political unrest of recent years, particularly through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Thailand. This encouragement from us comes from our shared commitment with Thailand to democratic values and institutions that underpins both of our nations and our alliance.And we are encouraged by the many steps that the government continues to take to consolidate strong, democratic institutions, to ensure good governance, to guarantee the rule of law, and to protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens. The free and fair elections that were held in Thailand in August demonstrated Thailand’s commitment to the democratic process. It is certainly up to the government and people of Thailand to determine exactly how to proceed, but we are encouraging it and quite heartened at the steps we have seen taken.

PRIME MINISTER YINGLUCK: (Inaudible) to go back to your questions, your question is – sorry that I missed this cabinet meeting because by coincident of the trip that – to go back, was on Monday night. And in this detail, I think I’ll – the deputy prime minister will handle this. But normally in the process, that will be the common process, and everything we have to make sure that it’s (inaudible) law and then will be applied for everyone. Thank you.

2. Bangkok Post: Madam Secretary of State, Could you elaborate the additional $10 million that you announced today? How would this – will it be expedited? And also the Don Muang project, how could that be – the drain and repair thing? Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much. Let me begin, again, by offering, on behalf of President Obama and our government and all of the American people, my sincere condolences to those who have lost so much during this terrible flooding. We’ve had our own experience with natural disasters, including terrible flooding. And I personally think that as terrible as natural disasters of all kinds are, flooding is probably the worst. It’s hardest to control, it’s hardest to end, it’s hardest to begin the recovery process because it is just such a long-term process for, first, the waters to rise and then to recede. And so we have great sympathy for what the people of Thailand are going through.Since the beginning of the flooding, we have been in close consultation, working with the Thai Government, both the civilian authorities and the military authorities, to assess needs and assist flood victims. And we have provided funding, as you may know, to the Thai Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration to quickly procure and distribute relief supplies. One thing we have learned is that it is not for the United States to determine what you need. You tell us what you need, and then we try to respond.So we are working to open the Don Muang Airport, because that’s a high priority of the Thai Government. It will provide not only an additional staging area, but also hopefully get tourism moving so that people will come to beautiful Thailand, as they historically have done for this upcoming season. We also were told that working with public health was important and providing technical management assistance to the flood management system, as well as immediate flood relief in the form of pumps and boats and generators. All of that is in process, and one of the reasons why our government sent the USS Lassen to the harbor, where it arrived today, is because of its helicopter capacity to work with the Thai military and disaster officials to be able to quickly respond.Now I know that anytime there is a disaster like this, people are in a state of shock and great despair, because oftentimes they see everything they’ve worked for either washed away or flooded. And we have great sympathy for that, but we commend Thailand’s resilience in the face of this historic disaster. We have a lot of confidence in the government and people of Thailand, that not only in this rescue period but in the periods to come, the restoration and recovery period and the rebuilding period, that you will come back even stronger. Thailand’s progress has been remarkable to all of us who have watched over the last 20 years, and we expect even more from Thailand in the future.We’ve also been working with our U.S. companies to assist in flood relief efforts and to ensure their continued investment in Thailand. And I’m very proud that Coca-Cola is teaming up with Habitat for Humanity on reconstruction projects, and Chevron has donated $2 million toward relief and recovery. So it’s not only our government what we are doing; it’s also our private sector. And the prime minister and I discussed other ways going forward that we will work together.

So we know this is challenging work, but it is work that we are committed to doing. Thank you.