Disintegration of ASEAN envisaged

Disintegration of ASEAN envisaged

BANGKOK (AP): Former Thai prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh
has said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is in danger
of falling apart because of the regional economic crisis and weak
leadership.

"If the present generation of leaders cannot help sustain the
grouping's progress and unity, how will the new generation be
able to forge unity?," Chavalit asked in an interview with The
Nation newspaper published on Monday.

ASEAN is a regional security and economic grouping that
consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Chavalit was prime minister for one year until Nov. 1997, when
he resigned amid public discontent over his inability to manage
Thailand's plummeting economy. Thailand was the epicenter of the
regional economic crisis, which has now spread to Russia and
Latin America.