AFP: “Thailand invites Obama to patch up”

AFP: Thailand invites Obama to patch up:

As the United States steps up its focus on Southeast Asia, its oldest regional ally Thailand is inviting President Barack Obama to visit as it tries to shed images of last year’s political violence.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva sent a special envoy to Washington this week to convince US policymakers that the kingdom is returning to stability and is committed to shift its fractious politics from the street to the ballot box.

“Our mission is to tell them that we’re back in business,” envoy Panitan Wattanayagorn, who also serves as the Thai government’s acting spokesman, told AFP on Wednesday.

And:

Obama has promised to attend the next East Asian Summit, tentatively slated for October on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali. A month later, Obama will welcome Asia-Pacific leaders to his native Hawaii for an annual summit.

Panitan said that Thailand welcomed the warming US relationship with Indonesia, which the Obama administration sees as an ideal partner in light of its vast, moderate Muslim population and its rapid shift to democracy.

But Panitan said that Thailand also sought a stop by Obama.

“We are working hard for that,” he said. “A visit would be very good. By that time, we should have a new government in office.”

(Emphasis mine.)

Image: AFP.