The 35th operation Cobra Gold, the largest war games in Asia, will start Feb 9 and last 11 days, the US Embassy announced Thursday.
The embassy's press release did not give the number of troops expected to participate, but said two dozen countries will be involved. As usual, the main troop contingents will be from the US and Thaland.
It is expected that the US will again scale back its troop numbers. US aid to Thailand has been suspended since the military coup in May, 2014. For several months that year, there was speculation the US might call off Cobra Gold, which dates back to the cold-war era when Vietnamese forces occupied Cambodia.
"This year, Cobra Gold will strengthen regional cooperation and collaboration, increasing the ability of participating nations to work together on complex multilateral operations such as counter-piracy and the delivery of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief," the press release said.
The main operation will focus on humanitarian civic assistance, while a seminar for senior leaders is under way. The statement said there will be a "field training exercise" but provided no deatils.