Officials to attend forum on Myanmar

Officials to attend forum on Myanmar

BANGKOK (AFP): Three senior Thai officials will defy requests from Yangon and leave this weekend for an international symposium on Myanmar, officials said on Saturday.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung last month said in a letter that Myanmar was opposed to Association of Southeast Asian Nations states attending the March 5-6 meeting in Seoul, the Bangkok Post reported.

But Noppadol Pattama, secretary to Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, said he would not confirm Thailand had ever received the letter and denied the meeting would alter regional policy towards Myanmar's military government.

The symposium will be dedicated to brainstorming for solutions to general problems rather than policy specifics, he said.

Along with Thailand, representatives from ASEAN states Malaysia and the Philippines also attend the meeting, Noppadol said.