PM Yingluck Raises Southern Bombing At ASEAN

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ASEAN SUMMIT

PM raises southern bombing at Asean

NUNTIDA PUANGTHONG

THE NATION

Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH: -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at the Asean summit addressed the issue of violence in the deep South, expressing sympathy after recent explosions that killed and injured more than 100 people, including citizens of neighbouring Malaysia.

The prime minister told Asean colleagues at the Phnom Penh summit that her government would compensate families of the dead and take care of all victims of the violence, according to Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, who was also in the meeting.

Yingluck also discussed the bombings with her Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak on the sidelines of the Asean meeting. The two leaders agreed to step up security, notably along the border and at checkpoints, said Surapong.

They assigned their interior ministries to cooperate and exchange intelligence information to prevent dual-nationality holders from exploiting their status to create trouble in the region, he said.

Furthermore, the defence ministers of the two countries would cooperate to intensify checks on vehicles crossing the border, he said.

Yingluck also discussed at the Asean meeting plans to make the regional grouping a community by 2015.

Asean has three pillars on which to build an Asean Community - the political-security pillar, economic pillar and social-cultural pillar.

The Thai prime minister highlighted Asean connectivity to enhance regional integration and to make the region more competitive, Surapong said.

This Asean connectivity aims to eliminate or reduce barriers at the borders as well as to develop security measures for the prevention of negative impacts on border activities.

Asean members are concerned relaxed border controls might be exploited by traffickers and smugglers.

Asean is also looking at ways to bridge the development gap between its original and new members from the Mekong region - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Foreign Minister Surapong said Thailand would host a workshop on cross-border management in the middle of June to forge cooperation on this issue.

-- The Nation 2012-04-04