SWB
FE/1086 A3/1
A. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
3. FAR EASTERN RELATIONS
31 May
[1]
THAI PRIME MINISTER IN MALAYSIA MEETS MAHATHIR MOHAMAD; PROBLEMS DISCUSSED
(a) Army Television Channel 5, Bangkok, 1230 gmt 29 May 91
Excerpts from report (FE/1082 A3/4 [16])
The Prime Minister, Anan Panyarachun, and his delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon [29th May] for his first visit to Malaysia after taking up the prime minister's post three months ago...
The goverment leaders of the two countries held official talks on the first day of the visit. The talks were held in two separate sessions a private meeting between the two prime ministers followed by a meeting between delegations of the two countries. Attending the meeting were Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office, M.R. Kasemsamoson Kasemsi, the Minister of Industry, Sippanon Ketuthat, the Vice Interior Minister, Adm Wichet Karunyawanit, and the Vice Agriculture Minister, At Taolanon...
Talking to reporters after the talks, Prime Minister Anan Panyarachun said the problem of Thai fishermen arrested by Malaysian officials might lead to an undesirable atmposhere. We have asked Malaysia to consider being more compromising in dealing with the fishermen, especially concerning the 700 Thai fishermen being detained in Kelantan State...
(b) Voice of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur external service in English 1330 gmt 29 May 91
Excerpts from report
Thailand supports Malaysia's proposed formation of the East Asia Economic Grouping, EAEG. The visiting Thai Prime Minister, Mr Anan Panyarachun, expressed his support to Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur today [29th May]. The Thai Prime Minister, who is also on a familiarization visit, said that his officials would examine the concept and prepare a paper on it.
These details were disclosed to reporters by the deputy secretary (1) of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Datuk Abdul Halim bin Ali, after the two prime ministers met at the Prime Minister's Department in Kuala Lumpur. According to Datuk Abdul Halim, both countries would also continue the existing close cooperation and try to overcome outstanding problems which need to be solved. The problems included: The arrests of Thai fishermen who did not comply with Malaysian regulations, the transit of perishable goods from Thailand to Singapore, overlapping television signals over the Malaysian border and tourism...
Datuk Abdul Halim said that Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir also raised the future direction of ASEAN and the forthcoming ASEAN summit in Singapore which should focus on economic issues in view of recent world developments. Datuk Seri Dr
Mahathir also said that ASEAN should be strengthened in order to face the challenges of the coming years.
[Note: The Thai Prime Minister made a speech at a reception hosted by the Malaysian Prime Minister in Kuala Lumpur on 29th May, a report of which was broadcast on Radio Thailand (Bangkok home service in Thai, 0000 gmt 30 May 91). In his speech, Anan Panyarachun said that Thailand and Malaysia had been able to solve the problems between them “in a successful and acceptable manner for their mutual benefit", for example, the disarming of the Communist Party of Malaya and the establishment of a Thai-Malaysian joint committee in order to make use of natural resources located along the border areas in the Gulf of Thailand. These actions reflected
the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, he said, according to the report.]
OTHER REPORTS ON SOUTH-EAST ASIA
[2]
Vietnam releases Thai fishing trawlers (FE/1083 A3/2 [7]) Vietnam released 14 Thai trawlers and all crew members on 25th-26th May following a Thai protest that the arrest was unjustified as the trawlers were operating inside Thai territorial waters. A Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the boats and crews were freed on the ground that they had not encroached upon Vietnamese waters. The Director-General of the Political Affairs Department of the Foreign Ministry [title as heard], Sarot Chawanawirat, on 27th May urged the Vietnamese government to be careful to prevent any further dispute that could harm cordial Thai- Victnamesc relations. (Voice of Free Asia, Bangkok, in English 1500 gmt 28 May 91)
[3]
Indonesia confiscates Taiwan ship for illegal fishing A fishing vessel sailing under a Taiwan flag, Fu Ming Yu, was caught for illegally fishing around 145 miles from Bitung, North Sulawesi, on 23rd May, a military ship commander, Lt-Col M. Idris, said in Manado, North Sulawesi, on 27th May. The ship and all its equipment were confiscated for court evidence, while the captain, Sun Thien, and his crew were detained for further investigation. (Antara News Agency, Jakarta, in English 1038 gmt 27 May 91)