CALD Director is received by DP and NCUB in Bangkok, meets speakers for Siem Reap Conference

(March 3, 2006 / Bangkok, Thailand) During his official two-day visit in Bangkok, the Executive Director of the Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats (CALD), Mr. John Joseph Coronel,  met with leaders of the two CALD member parties based in the Thai capital—the main opposition Democrat Party of Thailand (DP) and the exiled National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB).

During the said visit, he was able to meet briefly with two senior DP party officials, Deputy Leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot, MP, and spokesman Ong Ard Klampaiboon, MP. Messrs. Ponlaboot and Klampaiboon have served as CALD secretaries-general.

Mr. Coronel was received by DP Director of International Affairs, Mr. Isra Sunthornvut, a former parliamentarian who had just been appointed as spokesperson of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority. Joining him in that meeting was Chatchai Bhatiasevi, a member of DP.

During the meeting, Isra Sunthornvut briefed Mr. Coronel on the ongoing political crisis in Thailand(please see related story).

In a separate occasion, Mr. Coronel was also able to meet with Ms. Joy Senakant, member of the DP Bangkok Committee, during a lunch hosted by Friedrich Nauman Foundation regional Director Hubertus von Welck.

Mr. Coronel visited the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) and met with Messrs. Maung Maung, NCUB Secretary General and Soe Aung, member of the NCUB Foreign Affairs Committee.

During the meeting, NCUB announced that it will be sending a Burmese intern to the CALD secretariat by 2007 for a period of one year. The continuing Burma campaign, one of the main concerns of CALD, was also tackled.

Mr. Coronel also had audiences with the Bangkok-based speakers of CALD’s international conference on Public Accountability in Official Development Assistance (Siem Reap, Cambodia/April).

They were renowned Thai journalist, Mr. Kavi Chongkittavorn, Associate Group Editor and columnist of the respected The Nation, and Ms. Niza Concepcion (representing the Executive Director of Forum Asia, Mr. Anslemo Lee, who was in Soeul during that time).

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This post was written by CALD