Thai PM resumes ASEAN visits

Thai PM resumes ASEAN visits

BANGKOK (AFP): Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa will resume familiarization visits to Thailand's ASEAN partners with a trip to Brunei and Indonesia next week, a government spokesman said yesterday.

The traditional visits are designed to strengthen ties in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, grouping Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Banharn, who took office last July, went to Vietnam and the Philippines in November and has yet to pay official visits to Malaysia and Singapore.

During a one-day official visit to Brunei on Tuesday, he will have an audience with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and visit a gas drilling platform. The premier will also meet with Thai workers in Brunei.

Banharn will begin a visit to Indonesia on Wednesday. He is to meet President Soeharto in Jakarta and to tour the Borobudur temple in Yogyakarta on Thursday before returning to Bangkok.