Myanmar PM to get neighborly welcome in Thailand with home-cooked dinner by Thai leader

BANGKOK, Thailand (IHT): Thailand's leader planned to cook dinner for the visiting Myanmar prime minister Tuesday at the start of a visit expected to include talks about the military-ruled country's coming referendum on a long-awaited constitution.

Thailand has publicly pledged its support for Myanmar's draft constitution, ignoring an international uproar over the charter that many countries call a sham designed to cement military rule.

"Myanmar is holding a referendum on the constitution May 10. It is regarded as a step toward democracy in Myanmar," Foreign Minister Noppadol Pattama told reporters before Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein's arrival for a three-day visit.

Thailand disagrees with the U.S. and European Union approach of pressuring Myanmar to make democratic reforms by imposing sanctions, Noppadol said, adding that Thailand prefers a policy of "constructive engagement" with its neighbor.

In a show of neighborly good will, Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has invited Thein Sein to dinner Tuesday at his home.

"Prime Minister Samak said he will cook for the Myanmar prime minister by himself, but he refused to reveal the menu," said government spokesman Wichianchote Sukchotrat.

Samak, the former host of a TV cooking show, is an accomplished chef of Thai food and has enjoyed sampling the delicacies of local markets on trips around Southeast Asia since becoming prime minister in February.

Thein Sein was scheduled to hold official talks with Samak on Wednesday followed by an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej , the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The two prime ministers were expected to discuss Myanmar's referendum, cross-border drug trafficking and illegal immigration, Noppadol said.

Earlier this month, 54 Myanmar migrants suffocated in an unventilated truck while being smuggled into Thailand, a magnet for millions of migrants from its poorer neighbors.

Also Wednesday, the two leaders planned to sign an agreement on contract farming projects Thailand hopes to set up in Myanmar for rubber and palm oil plantations, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Before returning to Myanmar on Thursday, the visiting prime minister will tour some of the king's agricultural projects in the northern province of Chiang Rai, part of the so-called Golden Triangle that was once the world's largest opium poppy cultivating region. The Golden Triangle spanned parts of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.