Tak ready to welcome Suu Kyi

BANGKOK, May 31 (TNA) - Thai authorities in Tak province are preparing to welcome Myanmar opposition leader and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is scheduled to visit the northwestern Thai province on June 2, as part of her ongoing trip to Thailand to attend the 21st World Economic Forum (WE)F on East Asia in Bangkok, from May 30-June 1. According to Tak Governor Suriya Prasatbundit, Suu Kyi will depart from Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport to Mae Sot Airport in Tak by a private jet charter. She will, then, visit the Karen Mae La Refugee Camp to meet ethnic Karens who have taken refuged there for some 30 years, after crossing the common border to flee domestic unrest. The Tak governor told reporters on Thursday although Suu Kyi’s coordinating team has not yet made an official notice, through Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to visit the Karen Mae La Refugee Camp, provincial authorities have already sought an official permission from the Thai Ministry of Interior for Suu Kyi's planned visit at the border refugee camp. Besides, Suriya said he will call a meeting of local security agencies concerned, including the Naresuan Task Force, the Army Tak province, ad-hoc task forces, the 4th infantry Regiment, the 14th Infantry Regiment and the Provincial Administrative Organization, Friday afternoon at Tak's City Hall to make a final security preparation for the visiting Nobel Peace Prize laureate. (TNA)