Chiang Mai – The 2008 ASEAN Summit, which will include delegates from Burma, is to be held in the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai in December.
Previously, the 14th ASEAN summit was scheduled to be held in the capital city of Bangkok, but the location has now been changed to Chiang Mai's Shangri La Hotel from the 15th to 18th of December.
According to an official Thai Foreign Ministry Statement, the venue has been changed to Chiang Mai on account of its better climate.
However, speculation is rife that the venue was changed due to continuing anti-government protests in Bangkok.
"Though there are some protests in Chiang Mai against the government, the numbers of are not as many as in Bangkok and controllable. I think this is why they changed the venue," a Thai security official told Mizzima.
Hotel rooms have been booked for the summit's delegates at the Shangri La Hotel, the venue of summit, he added.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded on the 8th of August 1967, initially comprised of members Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Asean summit will move to Chiang Mai to avoid protests
PM gives no reason for change of venue
CHEEWIN SATTHA and THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL
CHIANG MAI : The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit will be moved from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to avoid possible disruption by anti-government demonstrators.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat anounced the change of venue during a visit to Chiang Mai yesterday.
The meeting is scheduled for Dec 15-18.
Mr Somchai did not offer any reason for the relocation from Bangkok, although Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat said later in a television interview that the cool weather in Chiang Mai in December made it the perfect city to host the gathering of Southeast Asian leaders.
However, a Foreign Ministry source said the main reason for the change was the government's worry that the continuing protests led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) could cause trouble for the event.
About 20 ministry officials visited Chiang Mai on Thursday to assess whether it could handle the summit, which will bring together several hundred officials.
Both Chiang Mai and Phuket were mentioned as alternatives to Bangkok, the source said.
Chiang Mai, the home province of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was chosen because it is a political stronghold of the People Power party, while anti-government factions were active in Phuket, the source added.
The summit is due to endorse the Asean charter, which is a road map for the future direction of the 10-member regional grouping, according to Asean Affairs Department director-general Vitavas Srivihok.
About 15 agreements will be signed during the meeting, he said.
When it comes into force, the charter will give the Asean secretariat more power in running Asean affairs.
The government is expected to ratify the charter next month after it is approved by His Majesty the King and published in the Royal Gazette, Mr Vitavas said.
Parliament has approved the charter and it has been forwarded to the King for endorsement.
Mr Somchai said efforts to solve the global financial crisis would be high on the agenda.
The Southeast Asian leaders will discuss strategies with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea, and also hold talks with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Asian and European leaders met at the two-day Asia-Europe Summit (Asem) in Beijing which ended yesterday to discuss the financial meltdown, as it was affecting the two continents.
In 1997, Asean members, China, Japan and South Korea launched the Chiang Mai Initiative in the northern city to create a network of bilateral swap arrangements among the 10 countries hit by liquidity difficulties as a result of the financial crisis which started in Thailand before spreading to other countries.
The Asean leaders agreed in Bejing on Thursday that the multilateral reserve pooling arrangements under the initiative should be intensified, according to the Asean secretariat.
Asean also set up a working group with the secretariat to prepare financial issues for their leaders to adopt at the summit.
Mr Somchai said Asean, China, Japan and South Korea plan to raise an Asian fund of up to US$150 billion (5,250 billion baht) to tackle the global financial turmoil.
The Asian fund is the idea of Mr Somchai's brother-in-law Thaksin, when he was in power.
He said he will ask Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech and Bank of Thailand governor Tarisa Watanagase to organise a meeting with those regional leaders to discuss the fund-raising in the summit.
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