From: kamol@ipied.tu.ac.th (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Bangkok Post Dec 23: Chatichai in high-profile visit of VN
Date: 22 Dec 92 18:29:26 GMT
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THE visit here by Chart Pattana   Party leader Chatichai Choonhavan
has almost taken on the proportions of an official visit by a state
leader.
 
During the three-day visit which ended Monday, Gen Chatichai held a
three-hour meeting with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet on Saturday, dined
at his house on Sunday and played tennis together on Monday.
 
He was also accompanied by a police escort on his travels throughout
the capital.
 
This was in stark contrast to what a government official said 
prior to Gen Chatichai's arrival, describing the visit "as a 
low-profile event".
 
The former prime minister, the man who coined the phrase "turning the
battlefields into marketplaces", is widely recognised as reaching out
to Vietnam at a time when Hanoi was still out in the cold before the
settlement of the Cambodian conflict which saw Thailand and Vietnam
backing opposing forces in the 13-year civil war.
 
In a street poll conducted by the Bangkok Post, Vietnamese people said
they knew Gen Chatichai was the former prime minister of Thailand but
did not know who Chuan Leekpai was.
 
"Gen Chatichai's visit has boosted and will further Thai-Vietnamese
relations ... I have heard about him for a long time and we had very
lively talks on Thai-Vietnamese ties and long-term cooperation," Mr
Kiet told reporters after the tennis game at the Government Sports
Club.
 
Mr Kiet teamed up with Gen Chatichai's son and adviser, Kraisak, for
the tennis match while Gen Chatichai was supported by Mr Kiet's tennis
coach.
 
The Vietnamese prime minister, the prime mover behind his country's
reforms and modernisation, adores his beer and tennis.
 
He praised Gen Chatichai as healthy and a good sportsman, although the
game came to an end after only 30 minutes when Gen Chatichai's aides
said they should stop torturing the old man because he was better at
golf than at tennis.
 
Mr Kiet played on after Gen Chatichai's departure.
 
"This is good not only for bilateral relations, but for the entire
region. I am confident this is a step toward future cooperation," said
Mr Kiet, whose left hand unleashed precise and strong strokes
throughout his 90-minute game.
 
Gen Chatichai apparently enjoyed talking about the performance of his
favourite activity -- turning the Indochinese battlefield into an
attractive marketplace, a vision which has captured people's
imagination since it was first expounded when he was prime minister.
 
The Vietnamese have followed the line if only for pragmatic reasons as
a way of helping their country catch up with the developments of other
countries in the region, particularly the ASEAN members.
 
Gen Chatichai also held talks during his visit with Foreign Minister
Nguyen Manh Van Cam, State Planning Committee chairman Do Quoc Sam,
Minister of Transport Bui Danh Luu, Minister of Construction Ngo Xuan
Loc and General Post and Telecommunications deputy chief Nguyen Trung
Ta.
 
He also mooted a new proposal -- getting the Japanese to fund the
creation of a land bridge between northeast Thailand, Laos and central
Vietnam, the most slender portion joining Thailand and Laos to the
South China Sea.
 
The proposed link will start with a bridge across the Mekong River
between Mukdahan and Savannakhet in Laos and  carry on overland to
Danang. General Chatichai, who toured Japan in May prior to the
general elections, said he had obtained backing from both Japanese
politicians and the private sector to set up what he called an
"Indochina Development Fund".
 
The fund would serve as a guarantee for loans required by private
companies to develop infrastructure. His proposal required funding of
US$2 billion.
 
He asked the Vietnamese foreign minister to also help talk to Laos,
while he himself planned to visit that country early next year to sell
the idea.
 
The northeast Thailand-Laos-Vietnam land bridge has been broached and
studied by various organisations including the UN's Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) for more than a
decade but regional instability caused by the Cambodian conflict made
it impossible.
 
"Now is just the right time to pursue it," said Mr Kraisak, who
together with Pansak Vinyaratn and Surakiat Sathirathai, were the key
men in developing the theme for Gen Chatichai's latest overture.
 
The trio served as personal advisers during Gen Chatichai's two-year
term as prime minister.
 
Gen Chatichai also brought with him a group of Thai businessmen
looking for business and investment opportunities in Vietnam. Earlier
he had taken similar trips to Cambodia.
 
Mr Kraisak admitted his father may have problems realising his vision
now he is no longer in government. But this could still contribute to
Thailand's regional diplomacy, he said.
 
The warmth given Gen Chatichai by Mr Kiet was unexpected.
 
"He probably would not get the same welcome if he came here as premier
as everything is then limited by formalities," said Mr Kraisak.
 
The invitation for the tennis game was a surprise and forced Mr
Kraisak to scour Hanoi markets for shorts and shoes for his father.
Eventually the tennis gear was brought from Bangkok on the very day.
 
Chart Pattana Party officials would not say how much money was spent
for the trip, but Mr Kraisak admitted it was "a lot".
 
The Thai-Lao-Vietnamese transport link is also on the agenda of
Foreign Minister Prasong Soonsiri during his visit here starting
today.
 
The Thai Government asked the embassy here to study the matter.
 
Bangkok will assume the role of coordinator and capital source for the
mega-project expected to cost at least $1,000 U  1%=9   =Iding to
official figures.
 
The objectives of Sqn Ldr Prasong's trip are to familiarise himself
with Vietnamese government officials, to sign a protocol for the
provision of a 150-million-baht commodity loan to Vietnam and to
discuss the demarcation of sea borders.
 
If taken up from whichever source -- the Thai Government or Gen
Chatichai -- the land bridge would benefit the development of the
three impoverished Indochinese countries.
 
"Now the key player to make this dream come true is Laos. No one knows
what Laos thinks at the moment," said a government source here.
 
Despite the lack of an official position from the Thai Government, Gen
Chatichai is pushing ahead with the idea through his planned visit to
Laos.
 
"The whole point is to activate the stagnant Thai role in the region
at a time when others are moving aggressively around us," said Mr
Kraisak.
 
"It also keeps the old man busy, and we also want to come up with a
positive engagement scheme for Japan."