[asia-apec 1666] Reuters story on ASEAN/trade lib

[APEC Monitoring Group]

Thai jokes veil bitter mood over indecision 

31.07.2000 

BANGKOK - Question: "How many senior officials does it take to change a lightbulb?" 

Answer: "Ten - to reach a consensus that the room is dark." 

Of all the jokes about the indecisiveness of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at the grouping's Bangkok meetings this week, those of senior Thai diplomat Kobsak Chutikul were the harshest. 

The director-general of the Thai Foreign Ministry's economic affairs department marked the close of a week of diplomatic talks on Saturday with a light-hearted jab at perceptions of Asean as an ineffectual talking shop. 

"How many ministers did it take to change a lightbulb?" Kobsak asked in the Bangkok Post: "None - they just redefined darkness as an Asean core principle." 

Other gems from the Thai official included: "For every vision there is an equal and opposite revision" and "Hangover: the wrath of grapes." 

Host Bangkok spearheaded efforts by Asean - which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - to streamline decision-making to respond more quickly to crises. 

The Thais ran into resistance from more conservative countries in the bloc, whose members include monarchies, a military dictatorship, Communist states and fragile democracies. 

- REUTERS