Thailand's Queen Sirikit to visit RP - Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Queen Sirikit of Thailand will visit the Philippines in November next year to mark the celebration of the 60th anniversary of friendship between Thailand and the Philippines, a Malacanang official said. Press Secretary Jesus Dureza revealed this during a chance interview late Monday night before he boarded the PAL commercial flight to San Francisco. He told reporters that the Thai queen's visit would be the culminating activity for the celebration of RP-Thailand ties. The revelation came hours after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat held bilateral talks in Malacanang. Included in the talks were the Queen's upcoming visit. Queen Sirikit, 76, born Momrajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara is the wife and Queen Consort of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. She is well known for promoting tolerance and understanding for Muslim minorities in Thailand's southernmost provinces, promoting Thai history and culture, and for her charitable work. She was President of the Thai Red Cross since 1956 and became more prominent in the aftermath of the tsunai disaster in Thailand in December 2004. Aside from the queen's visit, Dureza said Arroyo and Somchai also discussed the $80-million standby fund that Arroyo proposed to be created to help vulnerable Asean countries hit by the global financial crisis. He said Arroyo also thanked the Thai government for donating eight OV-10 bombers that are now being used by the military. He said the two leaders also talked about a joint visa arrangement for Asean, where a non-Asean national could get only one visa to cover the whole region. He also said they discussed a joint tourism package that would sell not only Thailand but the Philippines as well in a single package. Dureza said the matter of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra's alleged political asylum in the Philippines was not mentioned in the bilateral talks. Somchai is a brother-in-law of Thaksin and there were reports that Thaksin will ask Manila for asylum. - GMANews.TV