ASEAN foreign ministers arrive to a 'dry' Bangkok
ASEAN foreign ministers arrive to a 'dry' Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP): Foreign ministers from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathered in the Thai capital on Sunday for their annual meeting, and held a flurry of bilateral get- togethers before Monday's opening ceremony.
The host, Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan, is to throw an informal dinner on Sunday to welcome his regional counterparts.
But any of them hoping for a glass of wine with dinner will be disappointed. An alcohol ban has been slapped on the Thai capital over the weekend to prevent any violence marring the elections for Bangkok governor.
"We don't expect any problems when we refuse them a drink. Everyone knows about this law," said a banquet department staffer at the Shangri La, where the conference, and Sunday's dinner, are being held. "Instead we will offer them soft drink, fruit juice and mineral water."
Later in the week Surin will also welcome some high-profile visitors including U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright and North Korean foreign minister Paek Nam-Sun.
The two are expected to meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asia's top security meeting, to which North Korea was admitted this year.
Paek is also to hold his first bilateral meeting with his South Korean counterpart, in an historic development in North Korean's tentative foray onto the world stage.
Surin met on Sunday with the foreign ministers of Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam, and the ASEAN human rights working group. Delegation leaders from the Philippines and Malaysia also got together.
The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting is to formally open on Monday for two days of talks. The ASEAN plus three meeting -- which embraces China, Japan and South Korea -- follows on Wednesday, and on Thursday the ARF convenes for a day.
The post-ministerial conference with ASEAN's dialogue partners is to be held on Friday and Saturday.
Security officials were preparing to go on full alert for a protest "motorcade" planned for Monday by an alliance of rights groups, which will tour the Bangkok embassies of ASEAN members and finish up at the Shangri La.
The demonstration will highlight issues like poverty, human rights and the environment that are glossed over in forums like ASEAN, the organizers say.
North Korea's diplomatic debut will top the billing at the meeting, but ASEAN watchers hope it will not overshadow vital regional issues including security, poverty and environmental protection.
Among a host of nuts-and-bolts issues that will clamor for attention over the week, a proposal for an ASEAN "troika" to mediate on regional disputes, promoted by the democracies of Thailand and the Philippines, is likely to win support.
A major trade issue on the agenda will be the cementing of ASEAN plus three, which meets here formally for the first time.
Surin however has appealed for ASEAN to adopt a more human face during the meeting, saying that it is the right time for a shift in focus away from purely economic and security matters.