Thai PM visits Vietnam

BANGKOK, November 30 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has left for Hanoi for her one-day official visit to Vietnam, aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between Thailand and the ASEAN neighbour. Yingluck departed for Hanoi on Wednesday afternoon, after having been hospitalized at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok since early Tuesday morning for suffering from poisoning food. Doctors at the private hospital confirmed that the Thai premier has been recovering and could be discharged from the hospital at around Wednesday's noon, advising, however, that the Thai leader undergo a new medical check-up after returning home. Accompanied by her entourage, including a doctor, the Puea Thai premier, who took office in August 2011, is scheduled to hold talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung, lay a wreath at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and have a courtesy call on Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang. The Thai prime minister is also scheduled to attend a dinner banquet hosted by her Vietnamese counterpart, before flying home late tonight, at around 11pm. Yingluck's trip to Hanoi is part of a familiarisation visit normally practiced by new leaders of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which both Vietnam and Thailand are members, along with Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Singapore. (TNA)