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BANGKOK: Thailand decided on Wednesday to postpone the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit from earlier planned
mid-June to late October, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told
reporters.
The Thai Foreign minister’s statement was made
to reporters after he participated in the weekly Cabinet meeting.
The delay was made after it is discovered the
Asean and dialogue partner countries’ leaders will not have the
same time to participate in the Asean meeting and Related Summits
earlier planned mid-June, clarified Kasit.
Kasit also said that the postponement was not
due to chaos, which was made by the Thai anti-government protesters
during the Asean Summit and Related Summits in beach resort Pattaya
in April.
The 10th Asean Summit, Plus Three, and Six
Summit, and Related Summits were initially scheduled to be held on
April 10 to 12 in a hotel in resort town of Pattaya, next to
Bangkok, but on April 11 the Thai government announced the
postponement of it after the red-shirted or anti-government
protesters stormed into the venue.
This year Thailand is the chairman of the Asean;
its members include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The dialogue partners of the regional
association are China, Japan, South Korea, India Australia and New
Zealand.
Thailand’s government had previously proposed
to the other Asean leaders and dialogue partner leaders to host the
Summits during June 13 to 14 in Thailand’s southern province of
Phuket.
-- Xinhua
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