BKK Post / 15 August 1998  
THAI - LAOS  

Talks to focus on border problems  

   Laos will host an annual meeting with Thailand to 
discuss problems concerning border security, narcotics and 
commercial conflicts early next month.
   The Thai delegation will consist of Interior Minister 
Sanan Kachornprasart, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and 
11 governors of border provinces.
   Representing Laos will be the Thai ministers' 
counterparts, a deputy premier and seven governors.
   The meeting is expected to tighten border security and 
introduce measures to cut off drug smuggling routes. Also 
to be discussed is a commercial dispute over sand-pumping 
operations in the Mekong River, the two countries' natural 
borderline.
   Progress is also envisaged in efforts to settle border 
demarcation problems over six disputed areas in Chiang Rai 
and Nan.
   A source said the meeting might also cover a proposal 
for construction of another bridge over the Mekong, but the 
Hmong rebel problem was "definitely not on the agenda" to 
avoid triggering a diplomatic row.
   Laotian authorities reportedly were uneasy that a large 
number of Hmong rebels spearheading an anti-Vientiane 
movement were taking refuge in Thailand.