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.