BANGKOK, May 9 (Xinhua): The annual Cobra Gold multinational military exercise kicked off in Thailand's central province Chon Buri Tuesday, jointly participated by Thailand, the United States, Singapore, Japan and Indonesia.

'Cobra Gold 2007' which will last for 11 days, marks the 26th anniversary of this regularly scheduled joint training event hosted by Thailand.

Alexander A. Arvizu, US Deputy Chief of Mission, said at the opening ceremony Tuesday that "over recent years, Cobra Gold has evolved from a strictly bilateral joint exercise (by the US and Thailand) to a multilateral event designed to enhance our ability to respond to peace enforcement and peacekeeping responsibilities under the United Nations."

There are 5,324 personnel participating in the Cobra Gold exercise this year. Among them, 3,089 are from Thailand, 2091 from the US, while the rest from Singapore, Japan and Indonesia.

In addition, there will be ten Multinational Planning Augmentation Team member countries participating in a peace support operations mission scenario.

Six other countries, including China, Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Australia, France and Germany, also sent representatives to attend the event as observers.

This year's event will be the most acrobatic exercise in its history as it will face significant change of externality, according to a briefing by the Thai Supreme Command.

The exercise consists of a computer-simulated staff exercise, field training exercises and humanitarian/civic action project. It will be conducted across various areas of Thailand, with the major venue set in Sattahip district, Chun Buri province.