Prime Minister Thaksin Is On A 2-day Visit To Kazakhstan

[Jai Dee]

Prime Minister Thaksin is on a 2-day visit to Kazakhstan

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is participating in the Third Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures (CICA) being held during June 16th to 17th in Kazakhstan.

Thailand’s participation is the first since the country has become a CICA member in 2004. The conference, initiated by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, constitutes a new Asian security forum to support peaceful resolution of disputes and the common fight against terrorism. The conference provides an opportunity for the Asian nations to address modern challenges to the international peace and stability and set out the vision to tackle them.

Prime Minister Thaksin said upon his departure for the capital of Almaty that he would raise to the attention of the conference the future of Asia toward the 17-member organization. He said the conference has set several issues in its discussion framework including anti-terrorism, energy and bird flu. At the end of the conference, Thailand will sign the declaration outlining CICA stance on the regional situation and the future direction of CICA.

As the prime mover of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue or ACD, Mr. Thaksin said both CICA and ACD share the same purpose and should be creatively strengthened through their cooperation. Mr. Thaksin indicated that he will use the forum to solicit support for Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai in the latter’s quest to become the new UN secretary-general.

The Prime Minister will also hold bilateral discussions with leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, China and Pakistan, on the sidelines of the meeting.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 16 June 2006

[cclub75]

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is participating in the Third Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures (CICA) being held during June 16th to 17th in Kazakhstan.

"Confidence-building"... Is it a... joke ? What a "name" !

The Prime Minister will also hold bilateral discussions with leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, China and Pakistan, on the sidelines of the meeting.

This is the real point of this happy meeting.

It's obvious that under Thaksin's influence, the thai foreign policy is moving closer and closer to a bunch of undemocratics countries in Asia...

Pakistan, China, Burma, Uzbekistan...

This man seems to be highly interested by those neigboors. For business sure (do you want some bandwith on my narak satellite Shin ?)... but probably for other reasons.

I risk a bet : maybe because he feels good among them ?

USA, Japan and Australia, it's for the clean business and the smiles ("milk them with FTA's") and the other are for "politics" and dirty tricks.

I think that Thaksin is not only a business man, who seeks is own private interest. He was, but he has changed. He might have a political agenda too.

Not a enlighten one.

[Jai Dee]

Prime Minister is on visit to Kazakhstan to discuss bilateral cooperation framework and to rally support for DPM Surakiart's UN run

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his entourage have arrived in Kazakhstan to confer with the latter's president about the cooperation framework between the two nations.

Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin, Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai (สุรเกียรติ์ เสถียรไทย) and Foreign Affairs Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon (กันตธีร์ ศุภมงคล) arrived at Almaty Airport in Kazakhstan yesterday. The group will engage in bilateral talks with Mr. Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, and the issues will concern the cooperation framework between both countries regarding energy and the rally for support for Dr. Surakiart in his run for the next United Nations Secretary-General post.

Prime Minister Thaksin will also thank the Kazakhstani President for his wishful message to His Majesty the King in the occasion of His Majesty's 60th Anniversary of Accession to the Throne.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 June 2006

[VanZam]

Just when we thought the UN couldn't get any more corrupt..... the only logical next step would be to install a Thai leader, and the lapdog of Tuksin.

Tuksins new political agenda: World domination.

[sleepyjohn]

Hang on...Kazakhstan is only the 3rd or 4th worst of the "stans".

They don't boil people in oil there like they do in Uzbekhistan.

Dick "Lord Voldemort" Cheney likes them. Can they be that bad?

Edited June 18, 2006 by sleepyjohn

[joe beets]

Did I read somewhere that Kazakhstan has just launched a satellite?

Hmm...

jb

[Jai Dee]

PM satisfied with summit outcome

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned home yesterday after participating in the second Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

After the summit, which lasted from June 15-17, Thaksin expressed satisfaction with the event, in which Thailand had been participating for the first time.

He said the conference had strengthened relationships among Thailand and the other CICA members, that include Kazakhstan, China, Egypt, India, Israel, Iran, Pakistan and Russia.

The prime minister said that ties with countries with which Thailand already enjoyed good relations had been further strengthened.

“We have agreed with Kazakhstan that the two countries will tighten the already secure ties between us by expanding trade, investment, energy and tourism,” Thaksin said.

“We will cement commitments [made] between the two countries by having direct flights from Kazakhstan to Thailand as soon as Suvarnabhumi airport is operational,” the prime minister said.

After a brief meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 17, Thaksin said Russia had expressed a willingness to promote Thailand as the energy hub of the region and that energy ministers from both countries had already been assigned the task of collaborating on the matter.

Thaksin added that CICA’s 18 member countries have endorsed a statement by the United Nation’s, which was represented at the conference, that countries in the region should work together on matters of security.

“We have also agreed to help one another in the war against drug trafficking that causes social and economic problems and problems for humanity,” he said. The summit also urged all countries to reduce the number of weapons they possessed in order to prevent them falling into the hands of terrorists.

Thaksin added that several of those present at the conference, such as Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, gave their support for caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai’s bid to become the next secretary-general of the UN.

The summit brought together leaders from 18 countries in Asia and the Middle East. CICA was created in 2002 to address regional security and conflict issues.

After Thaksin’s return from the summit yesterday, he was asked by reporters about rumors of mass resignations by his Cabinet.

Thaksin retorted by asking reporters if they knew what the word “rumor” meant, saying that rumors were just that – rumors spread by those who wanted to mislead the public.

Source: ThaiDay - 19 June 2006

[Payboy]

Thaksin retorted by asking reporters if they knew what the word “rumor” meant, saying that rumors were just that – rumors spread by those who wanted to mislead the public.

Yeah, not to be confused with "statements" made by "those who are already misleading the public".

[John K]

What was the reason Thaksin went there again?

US attacks some Central Asia leaders

By Roman Kozhevnikov

DUSHANBE (Reuters) - The United States accused certain Central Asian leaders of trying to "sell their souls" for personal gain on Friday and denied Washington was seeking undue influence in a region rich in oil and gas.

In a sharply worded statement, a U.S. envoy to the region said Washington had no intention of creating its own blocs in Central Asia, where analysts say former imperial master Russia is vying with both the United States and China for influence.

"Some clear-eyed leaders in this region desire strongly to build their nations' independence and sovereignty," said Richard Hoagland, U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan.

"Some others are willing to sell their state and even their own soul to the highest bidder for their own and their family's short-term personal and political gain."

Hoagland did not specify which of the five ex-Soviet "stans" of Central Asia -- Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan -- he was criticizing but at least some of his comments appeared to be aimed against President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan.

Hoagland said his statement, also published in Tajik newspapers, was prompted by events earlier this month at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which groups together Russia, China and four of the "stans."

Karimov made a veiled criticism of the United States at the summit, saying some countries wanted to shape the region to suit their own interests by dubbing some democratic and others not.

"A faint odor of sanctimony permeates the recent statement that came from a leader interviewed at the SCO summit in Shanghai, who said others should be careful not to force their views on 'new' republics in Central Asia," he said.

Lying on some of the world's biggest oil and gas reserves, Central Asia is a region prone to authoritarianism and instability. Most countries are criticized in the West for patchy human rights records. Both Moscow and Washington have military bases there.

U.S. relations with Uzbekistan, formerly a close ally in the "war on terror," soured after Washington condemned excessive use of force when troops fired on crowds in Andizhan last year during an uprising.

Uzbekistan expelled U.S. troops from a military airbase after that and sought closer ties with Russia. The SCO last year called on the United States to name a date for the departure of all its troops from the region.

"The United States has no intention of 'stealing' one or another country from another 'bloc'," Hoagland said.

As its ties with Uzbekistan deteriorated, Washington has sought to bolster relations with its neighbors.

It has praised Kazakhstan -- the largest economy in the region -- for its democratic development and has convinced the country to join a major pipeline that will take Caspian oil to Western markets while bypassing Russia.

[Johpa]

What was the reason Thaksin went there again?

Clearly he went there to compare notes and maybe pick up a few tips from President Nursultan Nazarbayev, one of the few leaders of a nation-state that can make Taksin look good on a bad day.