May 20, 2008
BANGKOK - Premier Samak Sundaravej will meet UN chief Ban Ki-moon this weekend ahead of a conference in Myanmar aimed at getting more aid to cyclone survivors, according to Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama.
"Ban Ki-moon will arrive in Thailand tomorrow (Wednesday). I will greet him, and he will meet with the prime minister on May 24 at Government House," Noppadon Pattama told reporters.
Ban is due to head to Myanmar on Thursday and Friday, where he plans to visit the cyclone-ravaged southwest delta region, according to AFP.
He will then spend Friday night and Saturday in Bangkok, before heading back to Myanmar on Sunday for an international donor conference.
The topic of discussion between Ban and Samak is not disclosed. However, the foreign minister will personally discuss with the UN chief preparations for the donor conference, which he will also be attending.
Ban had last week asked Samak to push Myanmar to open up to more foreign aid workers to help Cyclone Nargis victims.
The natural disaster left at least 133,000 people dead or missing in early May.
Samak made a one-day trip to Myanmar last Wednesday, where he met his Myanmar counterpart, but he returned to Thailand saying that the regime was still insisting it could handle the relief effort alone.
