PM arrives in Beijing for ASEAN-Europe ASEM summit

BEIJING, Oct 24 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat arrived
Beijing on Thursday afternoon to attend the leaders summit of Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) with a goal to restore the kingdom's international lustre
that was diminished due to the past two years of domestic political
turmoil.

The Thai prime minister checked-in at the Grand Hyatt Beijing that the
Chinese government had arranged for him during the Seventh Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM 7) summit to be held in Beijing October 24-25.

Upon arrival the Thai premier, as chairman of the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) hosted dinner for the regional countries'
leaders.

Due to the ongoing political turmoil in Bangkok, Mr. Somchai took the
opportunity to introduce himself to other ASEAN heads of state, as he had
not made the traditional visits to the region's capitals after assuming
the post in mid-September.

While there was no formal discussion of issues, the world economic crisis
and its impact in Asia was very much in the air. During the dinner, the
ASEAN leaders informally discussed the global financial crisis and their
possible measures to respond to the crisis, in their own countries and on
a regional basis.

The very fact that ASEAN and Europe are meeting in China underscores the
changed political and economic realities as compared the the world order
at the time of ASEAN's founding.

Mr. Somchai said earlier that the Beijing meeting will be a good
opportunity to restore international confidence after Thailand's
preoccupation with domestic political turmoil.

The prime minister said he would like to tell the countries that even
though Thailand is facing problems, it could move ahead.

The ASEM 7 summit will be the first gathering of leaders of 45 Asian and
European partners since its second round of enlargement in 2006.

The theme of ASEM 7 is 'Vision and Action: Towards a Win-Win Solution'. (TNA)