Thai PM visits UK

BANGKOK, November 12 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is paying an official visit to the United Kingdom, scheduled for November 12-15, aimed to strengthen relations between Thailand and the United Kingdom in all areas. Accompanied by her entourage, including a group of Thai business operators, Yingluck will meet Thai business persons and officials in the United Kingdom and UK tourism authorities on Tuesday morning, after arriving in London Monday evening (UK time). Premier Yingluck will then be granted an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace, before delivering a keynote address at a luncheon with Thai and UK business operators, after which she will have an interview with journalists. On November 14, the prime minister will attend the Thai Rice Week fair at Tesco department store, meet her UK counterpart David Cameron and attend a lunch party hosted by the UK prime minister. The prime minister told journalists in Bangkok, before leaving for London that, she will explore more rooms for enhancing and strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation between Bangkok and London in all aspects during her first official trip to the United Kingdom, especially on trade, investment, education and tourism. The premier said that she will also persuade more UK financial institutes to expand their investment into Thailand; while presenting Thailand's development plans and promotional privileges for foreign investors. The prime minister will also meet Thai students in the UK and inspect urbanization in the established European nation, acknowledging that she plans to apply the knowledge in Thailand. (TNA)