By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, May 19 (Bernama) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will visit Malaysia on June 8 and Cambodia two days later to strengthen ties with its two neighbours.
Abhisit, who became premier in December 2008 after months of political turmoil, is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who took office in April.
"Both leaders are expected to discuss various issues, especially those related to trade, investment and the southern conflict," Panitan said here Tuesday.
The two leaders had met last month during the aborted Asean 6 Summit in Pattaya.
Panitan said the visit to Cambodia and meeting with the country's Prime Minister Hun Sen would touch on the border issues. Tension rose between the neighbours after soldiers from both sides exchanged fire at a disputed ancient temple site on several occasions.
Despite taking office six months ago, Abhisit only visited Laos so far as part of familiarisation to Asean countries due to the domestic political crisis where several big scale street demonstrations had taken place in the past few months, including the April 13 rioting in the capital by anti-government protesters.
In Malaysia, Abhisit is expected to ask Malaysia to extend its development programmes as part of the ongoing measures to end the armed conflict and restore peace in the Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia.
More than 3,500 people have been killed since insurgents resumed their armed campaign in January 2004 to seek independence for Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
In June, 2007, Thailand and Malaysia signed an agreement on cooperation in 3E programmes -- education, employment and entrepreneurship, which among others, will help train about 4,000 Thai Muslims in technical programmes and offer scholarships to southern students.
According to officials, Abhisit is expected to brief Najib on Thailand's decision to cancel its plan to hold the aborted Asean 6 Summit in Phuket on June 13 and 14.
The Summit was cancelled as several of the 16 participating countries have other prior commitments. The Pattaya Summit had to be aborted when anti-government protesters stormed the meeting venue, forcing authorities to evacuate some of the leaders using helicopters.
-- BERNAMA
BANGKOK, May 19 (Bernama) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will visit Malaysia on June 8 and Cambodia two days later to strengthen ties with its two neighbours.
Abhisit, who became premier in December 2008 after months of political turmoil, is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who took office in April.
"Both leaders are expected to discuss various issues, especially those related to trade, investment and the southern conflict," Panitan said here Tuesday.
The two leaders had met last month during the aborted Asean 6 Summit in Pattaya.
Panitan said the visit to Cambodia and meeting with the country's Prime Minister Hun Sen would touch on the border issues. Tension rose between the neighbours after soldiers from both sides exchanged fire at a disputed ancient temple site on several occasions.
Despite taking office six months ago, Abhisit only visited Laos so far as part of familiarisation to Asean countries due to the domestic political crisis where several big scale street demonstrations had taken place in the past few months, including the April 13 rioting in the capital by anti-government protesters.
In Malaysia, Abhisit is expected to ask Malaysia to extend its development programmes as part of the ongoing measures to end the armed conflict and restore peace in the Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia.
More than 3,500 people have been killed since insurgents resumed their armed campaign in January 2004 to seek independence for Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
In June, 2007, Thailand and Malaysia signed an agreement on cooperation in 3E programmes -- education, employment and entrepreneurship, which among others, will help train about 4,000 Thai Muslims in technical programmes and offer scholarships to southern students.
According to officials, Abhisit is expected to brief Najib on Thailand's decision to cancel its plan to hold the aborted Asean 6 Summit in Phuket on June 13 and 14.
The Summit was cancelled as several of the 16 participating countries have other prior commitments. The Pattaya Summit had to be aborted when anti-government protesters stormed the meeting venue, forcing authorities to evacuate some of the leaders using helicopters.
-- BERNAMA
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