Yugoexport, Inc., (Jugoexport) and Insurance Institution "Novi Sad" v. Thai Airways International, Ltd., Garnishee-Defendant-Appellee

Plaintiff Yugoexport appeals the denial of a writ of garnishment against Thai Airways International in an action to enforce a default judgment entered in the Southern District of New York against the Port Authority of Thailand. Because the district court in New York had no jurisdiction of the subject matter under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1602 , et seq., we affirm.

On May 25, 1976, Yugoexport, Inc. shipped goods to Vientiane, Laos, aboard the ship S/S TREPCA. The shipment of flour, beans and potatoes represented the Yugoslavian government’s commitment to the United Nations emergency operation for Laotian relief. The goods were to be trans-shipped at Bangkok, Thailand, where the shipment was temporarily stored in a warehouse operated by the Port Authority of Thailand, an agency of the Royal Thai government. A fire at the warehouse damaged the goods.

Yugoexport, an agency of the Yugoslav government, filed an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 1, 1978, against the Port Authority of Thailand, to recover the value of the destroyed goods. The Port Authority of Thailand has an office in New York and…