Chavalit ends Singapore trip

Chavalit ends Singapore trip

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Thai Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh
left Singapore yesterday after a two-day visit aimed at boosting
ties and eliminating what he called image problems, but giving no
details of how either would be achieved.

Chavalit called Singapore "one of Thailand's most important
economic partners" in his only public pronouncement during the
state visit, an interview with Singapore's Straits Times
newspaper Thursday.

Singapore is Thailand's most important trading partner in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which also
includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Vietnam.

Two way-trade reached an estimated US$7.7 billion to US$11.5
billion in 1996. There are also about 50,000 Thai workers in
Singapore, most of them in the construction industry.