THE Thai Foreign Minister, Mr Kantathi Suphamongkhon, is due to visit Myanmar later this month, as a part of series of trips to fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Mr Kantathi told reporters in Bangkok on August 4 he planned a two-day to Myanmar beginning on August 31, Reuters news agency reported. The visit is in line with an ASEAN tradition for foreign ministers to visit other member states as soon as possible after assuming office.

Mr Kantathi said Myanmar was the only remaining ASEAN country he needed to visit since being appointed foreign minister in March.

He said the visit would include a meeting with the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe.

Mr Kantathi is also expected to hold talks with his Myanmar counterpart, U Nyan Win.

In another development, U Nyan Win and Mr Kantathi joined their counterparts from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam at an annual meeting of the foreign ministers of the Ayeyarwaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy grouping, at Siem Reap in Cambodia on August 5.

The meeting discussed preparations for a summit of prime ministers of the five ACMECS countries due to be held in Thailand in November, said a statement from Thai foreign ministry last week.

It will be the second such meeting of the grouping, which was launched at a summit held at Bagan in 2003.

The statement said the foreign ministers also held talks with the representatives from the Asian Development Bank and the European Union, as well as those from the governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Singapore, to seek funding as well as technical support for the projects planned by the grouping.

The projects include industrial and agricultural development as well as promoting cooperation in tourism and human resources development, the statement said.

It said the Siem Reap meeting also agreed to adopt an energy conservation plan and to promote cooperation in the health sector.