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.