Thai PM visits Indonesia for Bali Democracy Forum

BANGKOK, November 7 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is scheduled to visit neighbouring Indonesia from November 7-9 to attend the two-day Bali Democracy Forum, the fifth of its kind, on the Bali Island. Yingluck and her entourage, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office Sansanee Nakpong, were set to leave Bangkok at 5pm Wednesday, hours before the Bali Democracy Forum, scheduled for November 8-9, is inaugurated. Yingluck told journalists prior to her departure that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono initiated the Bali Democracy Forum in 2008 for all countries to discuss democracy and solutions to their problems. For Thailand, Yingluck said, she will inform the forum of democratic promotion in the Kingdom and the need for all countries to adhere to fairness and the rule of laws and to create equal opportunities to support democracy, which will then lead to confidence and strong economic fundamentals globally. According to the prime minister, she will probably present at the forum that the Thai government has created opportunities for local people to meet their demands and to empower them and their organizations which need special care, especially women and children. (TNA)