Cambodian DPM Tea Banh visits Thailand

BANGKOK, July 28 (TNA) - Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense General Tea Banh is paying a two-day official visit to Thailand, scheduled for July 28-29, as the guest of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Accompanied by his entourage, including Cambodia's Deputy Army Chief Lieutenant General Hun Manet, a son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and other top brass military officers, General Tea Banh met Acting Thai Defence Minister General Surasak Karnchanarat, who is also Thai Permanent Secretary for Defence, at the Thai Ministry of Defence in Bangkok, shortly after his arrival in the Thai capital. Both sides first inspected the guards of honours and then held talks on bilateral relations within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as Phnom Penh is responsible for peacekeeping in ASEAN and Bangkok is responsible for taking care of the intra-regional medicine. The acting Thai defence minister acknowledged that the talks did not include the national administrative power of the Thai army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), as it is considered Thailand's internal affairs. The Cambodian high-ranking delegates then met Thai Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimaprakorn, who is also an NCPO deputy chief, at the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters and are scheduled to attend a dinner reception hosted by the Royal Thai Armed Forces at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok on Monday evening. The visiting Cambodian deputy prime minister and his entourage are scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Thai Army and NCPO Chief General Prayuth Chan O-cha at the Royal Thai Army Headquarters in Bangkok on Tuesday afternoon, hours before their departure for Cambodia, ending their two-day trip to Thailand. (TNA)