Thai deputy FM visits Myanmar

[kyawkyaw@xxxxxxx]

Thai deputy FM visits Myanmar to celebrate relations

       Mon 24 Aug 98 - 04:39 GMT 

       BANGKOK, Aug 24 (AFP) - Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand
Paribatra left Thailand Monday for a
       two-day visit to Myanmar to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
official ties between the neighbouring countries.

       Sukhumbhand will meet senior officials from Myanmar's junta during
the visit, which is expected to be largely
       ceremonial, Thai foreign ministry officials said.

       Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul said Myanmar was Thailand's
largest neigbour with the longest shared border.

       "It will always be important to Thailand, in terms of foreign
policy, security, trade and investment," Kobsak said.

       He said the neighbours were celebrating only the anniversary of
their modern ties, not the centuries of cohabitation and
       mutual development.

       "Fifty years is only the latest phase, the modern phase of
relations. Actually, our relations go back many hundreds of
       years."

       Kobsak said Thailand was looking forward to intensified cooperation
with Myanmar, especially at the
       people-to-people level.