US Defence Secretary James Mattis has given Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon a direct "hotline" so he can contact him around the clock, according to an informed source.
The source made the comment yesterday after Gen Prawit spoke with the media about his recent trip to the United States from April 21-27.
According to defence spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich yesterday, Gen Prawit met privately with Mr Mattis before they attended another session with the other members of the Thai delegation to the US.
Lt Gen Kongcheep did not elaborate on the details of their discussion.
Gen Prawit said the US pledged to cooperate with Thailand on all the requested matters including military training and education.
He insisted there was no mention of recent widely circulated rumours that Washington may ask Thailand to serve as a mediator in its upcoming talks with North Korea.
Gen Prawit said any decision on who should mediate the talks would depend on the US and North Korea.
The deputy prime minister said it was highly unlikely that the US would want Thailand to be involved in the US-North Korean talks, or it would have contacted the government about this matter already.
Responding to previous reports that suggested some groups linked to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group have sneaked into Thailand and been operating in the country for some time, Gen Prawit said the US had confirmed during his visit that it did not have any intelligence substantiating this claim.
As for Thailand's intention to purchase more weapons from the US, Gen Prawit confirmed the US side had reassured him that Thailand is free to buy any weapons of its choice as long as there is no law in force prohibiting such purchases from the country.
"The visit, I think, was a real success because they haven't invited a Thai defence minister to visit them like this in more than two decades," according to Gen Prawit.
Lt Gen Kongcheep said the US also thanked Thailand for joining the sanctions against North Korea under the United Nation's resolution.
According to Lt Gen Kongcheep, Thailand and the US have also agreed to adjust their cooperation in supporting each other with military maintenance forces.
