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BANGKOK, THAILAND - THAILAND will send a deputy prime minister to the Asean meeting in Singapore next week, a foreign ministry official said on Wednesday, after the kingdom's top diplomat resigned in a legal scandal.
Deputy Prime Minister Sahas Bandidkul will attend the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), where five key pacts will be on the table, including a non-aggression treaty with North Korea.
Thailand's foreign minister Noppadon Pattama was forced to step down last week, when a court ruled his signing of a joint communique with Cambodia was unconstitutional because he had not sought parliamentary approval.
The court used a broad interpretation of what agreements need parliament's approval. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has raised concerns that many international agreements could be affected.
'There are no controversial pacts, all the agreements are routine and the foreign ministry is confident that none will contradict the constitution,' Mr Vitavas Srivihok, head of the foreign ministry's Asean affairs department, told reporters.
But the confusion over how to handle international agreements has threatened to complicate Thailand's regional relations as the kingdom prepares to take over Asean's rotating chair on July 17.
Mr Vitavas also told reporters that the ongoing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over the ancient Preah Vihear temple would not be raised at the Asean conference.
The 11th century temple lies in Cambodia but its most accessible entrance is in Thailand, and the two countries continue to disagree over the exact border around the ruins. -- AFP
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