(21 Jun 2003)
1. Exterior shot of meeting venue, Chiang Mai Green Valley Golf Club House
2. Various shots security
3. Wide shot entrance to meeting room
4. Wide shot Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, shaking hands with Chinese Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing
5. Cutaway officials
6. Wide shot various of MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signing ceremony between Thailand and China
7. Wide shot Thailand and Korean bilateral meeting
8. SOUNDBITE: (Thai) Surakiart Sathirathai, Thai Foreign Minister:
"The Korean Prime Minister agreed to the idea of free trade and thinks it’s a good initiative. We both understand which are the sensitive issues between us and the Korean minister said that he would pass this on."
9. Wide shot of representatives of 5 countries (Thailand, Myanmar, China, Laos and India) discussing drug controls
10. Various of drug control meeting
11. Close up Myanmar Foreign Minister, Win Aung
13. Close up Thailand Foreign Minister, Surakiart Sathirathai
14. Wide shot of press briefing
15. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Surakiart Sathirathai, Thai Foreign Minister:
"We all agree that drug and terrorism are interlinked. Drugs is the force that supports terrorism. We all agree that drugs are an issue of international crime."
16. Close up journalist
17. Wide shot media briefing
18. Exterior meeting venue
STORYLINE:
Eighteen Asian nations holding an informal regional forum got down to business Saturday, holding consultations on drugs and trade, and signing pacts on crime-fighting cooperation and migrant workers.
A meeting of the Joint Thai-Republic of Korea Commission produced no formal agreements, but probably was the day’s most important session, because it considered future trade and investment plans between two dynamic and complementary economies, from Southeast Asia and East Asia respectively.
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai had one-on-one talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Young-kwan, before the joint committee met.
The session was part of the second Ministerial Meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, an annual meeting initiated by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to serve as an informal forum for Asian nations to exchange views and expertise on issues of common interest.
Briefing the press afterward, Surakiart said Thailand was keen to promote a free trade agreement with Seoul.
Five nations – Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, China and India – earlier reached informal agreement on measures to jointly combat the production and trafficking of opium, heroin and methamphetamine, for which the region serves as an international source.
Myanmar is the world’s second largest producer, after Afghanistan, of opium and heroin, and recently has become a major exporter of the illegal stimulant methamphetamine.
Perhaps the most significant move was the admission of India to what had previously been a four-nation group centering around the infamous opium-growing golden triangle region where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin attended the signing of two formal documents on Saturday, a treaty between Thailand and China enhancing bilateral cooperation in criminal proceedings, and a memorandum of understanding with Myanmar on cooperation in employment of workers from each other’s country.
There are hundreds of thousands of Myanmar nationals in Thailand , working both legally and illegally.
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