Thailand-Asean/Pressing for a cruci

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 Regional diversity no longer an asset, Surin warns :           
      Minister advocates "enhanced interaction"
 AFP,Aug 13,1998.
 Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan believes the diversity of Asean's
nine members has become "baggage" and warned the grouping must change if it
is to remain relevant.
 Outlining his contentious call for members to be free to comment on the
affairs of their partners that may have regional implications, Mr.Surin
brushed aside opposition to the plan by some Asean states and said the idea
enjoys support and continues to circulate.
 "If it is an idea whose time has not come,let it simmer ..and be grateful
its detractors have never accused it of being an idea whose time has
passed,"Mr Surin told journalists late on Tuesday.
 "As an organization,in the beginning diversity was our attraction,"he said
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,which was founded in 1968.
 "{But} in 30 years,31 years,diversity has become a problem in itself for
all of us,because we don't seem to be able to--move at the same pace on
various planes on different issues.
 "We have to make allowances for some members on some issues at certain
periods of time.
 "Diversity itself has become baggage. Diversity,which used to be a
resource,which used to be a source of stability ,has become a potential
weakness for the organization as a whole."
 Mr Surin said his original plan for a policy of "flexible engagement" had'
mutated"into one of" enhanced           
interaction", a change widely seen as a softening of his stance in the face
of most other Asean members, with the prominent exception of the Philippines.
 Citing the regional economic crisis,as well as haze from Indonesian forest
fires,political instability in Cambodia and tension in Burma, Mr Surin said
the previously dynamic region had lost much of its lustre on the
international stage.
 It is going to take us long,long time before all of us can get out of this
difficult situation," he added.
 The are some problems in some countries which have been stumbling blocks
for the organization's associations,the organization's relationships with
other countries,with other organizations,with other regions.
 Asean's admission last year of Burma as a member sparked strong protests
from the West,which refused to allow Rangoon to join other members of the
grouping at talks with European powers.
 Mr Surin said it was these problems within member states and which had
impact on other members which were the subject of his call for a new
policy. The long-
standing Asean principle of non-intervention in each others' internal
affairs should continue,he added,but this did not mean members must simply
accept the conduct of their partners.