Prez stops off in BKK for somtam?

[TBWG]

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent
Barack Obama is in Thailand for his first foreign trip since his re-election.

The US President flew into Bangkok for the first stop of a three-country tour which will include Cambodia and Burma.

He will hold top-level meetings and a news conference with the Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as well as meeting the Thai King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is in hospital where he has been recovering from an illness since September 2009.

Mr Obama calls himself the "Pacific President" and has pledged to focus significant attention on the Asia-Pacific region.

It is therefore no surprise that his first foreign trip is here.

The United States is seeking to counter China's increasing clout in the region. The US government has said that 60 per cent of the US naval forces will be based in the region by 2020.

As if to underline America's commitment to the region, the US Defence Secretary is currently on his fourth trip to Asia this year.

Thailand is the United States' longest standing ally in the region. The US sees it as vital in helping it pivot attention towards Asia and boost ties with the fastest growing region on the planet.

The main focus of the trip will be to Burma on Monday.

Mr Obama will become the first US president ever to visit the country. The visit is a key indicator that Washington believes Burmese government reforms are genuine and continuing.

He will meet both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. On Friday, Washington announced it had lifted a ban on the import of goods from the country.

The president's visit follows a trip by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the country in December 2011 and a visit by British Prime Minister David Cameron in April 2011.

The US President's Asian tour will end in Cambodia where he will attend a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

The leaders of 16 southeast Asian countries will attend, as well as the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In Burma, despite the recent reforms, sectarian clashes between Muslims and Buddhists have killed more than 180 people and destroyed the homes of more than 100,000.

The government has been criticised for not having done enough to stop the violence in the coastal Rakhine State.


TBWG