Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese





FOREIGN Minister Prasong Soonsiri said he would ask the Government to
appoint a working group to seriously study a proposed Thailand-Vietnam
transport link through Laos.

"I emphasise that this government gives high priority to relations
with neighbouring countries. We will act to realise this project.
We're not just here to talk and let it pass like a flash in the pan,"
he said.

Sqn Ldr Prasong arrived yesterday in Hanoi for a three-day official
visit. His trip comes on the heels of a private visit here by former
prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan from Saturday to Monday.

The two political rivals will be in Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow and the
day after. Gen Chatichai was to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City from Danang
yesterday.

While here, the Chart Pattana Party leader stole the thunder from Sqn
Ldr Prasong by proposing to Vietnamese leaders the creation of a
Mukdahan-Savannakhet-Danang transport link through the
Japanese-sponsored Indochina Development Fund.

Asked whether the proposal was brought up during yesterday's talks,
the Foreign Minister said his Vietnamese counterpart asked him to
consider helping Vietnam develop its transport infrastructure because
Thailand has the expertise and personnel.

"I told him I would convey the request to the Government, which I
believe is prepared to lend its utmost cooperation," he said.

He would seek the setting up of a working group to conduct a
feasibility study and to secure funding for the project.

The project requires construction of a second bridge across the Mekong
River, linking northeast Thailand and Laos, and improving roads from
southern Laos to central Vietnam.

"At the very least, we need to talk to all three countries involved. I
am going to Laos in the middle of next month," he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan had reported "good progress" in
his talks with the Japanese Government in Tokyo to seek funding for
the project, Sqn Ldr Prasong added.

Gen Chatichai said here that he's going to Laos to discuss the
proposal again next month. He was already in Tokyo prior to the May
elections.

The Foreign Minister yesterday called on Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo
Van Kiet, and signed two agreements to provide 150 million baht in
long-term credit and to avoid double taxation.

On his talks with Mr Kiet, Sqn Ldr Prasong said, "We share the same
view on every obstacle that remains to bilateral relations."

He would actively pursue Vietnam's request to expand economic and
technical cooperation, especially in agriculture and public health, he
said, and believes the Thai Government will respond favourably.

The two foreign ministers yesterday identified bilateral problems and
set the stage for further negotiations on fishing cooperation, sea
border demarcation, and the question of Vietnamese refugees in
northeast Thailand.

Dialogue on these issues had ground to a halt due to the recent
political turmoil in Thailand, he said.

"The overall picture is very good," he said, and each side came away
from the talks with a better understanding of their respective
policies and positions.

Officials from both sides should revive legal and technical talks as
soon as possible, said Sqn Ldr Prasong, and all remaining problems
will be taken up by the Thai-Vietnamese Joint Commission, which will
meet in the first quarter of next year.

He suggested that negotiations on establishing law and order at sea
could proceed in tandem with joint fishing activities.

Vietnam had demanded that law and order be established at sea prior to
undertaking joint fishing projects.

The two ministers briefly discussed Cambodia, and Vietnam urged
Thailand to cooperate with the Paris peace plan. Sqn Ldr Prasong told
the Vietnamese that Thailand wants to see a durable peace in Cambodia,
all Khmer factions reconciled and administration of the country for
the benefit of Cambodians.

Thailand and Vietnam backed opposing sides during the 12-year
Cambodian conflict.

During his term at the National Security Council during the Cold War,
Sqn Ldr Prasong was known for his anti-communist and anti-Vietnam
position.

He first visited Vietnam in 1976 with then-foreign minister Bhichai
Rattakul to establish diplomatic relations after the end of the
Vietnam War.

Yesterday, he told the Vietnamese foreign minister that he had seen
"considerable change" in Hanoi.

"I see more cars and motorcycles and understand that people are living
better. This is commendable," he told his Vietnamese counterpart.

He will call on Vietnam's president today and leave for Ho Chi Minh
City in the afternoon.
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese