At Pattaya Beach, one of Thailand's most popular beach resorts, on Monday (15 April), foreign ministers of the Association of South east Asian Nations -- ASEAN -- opened their sixth annual meeting with a call for tighter regional security.

Thailand's Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn, in a brief opening speech, set the tone for the conference by declaring that the future aim of the organisation should be more economic, cultural and social cooperation.

In addition to the five ASEAN members -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- two of the Indochina countries, Laos and the Khmer Republic, were attending as observers.

North and South Vietnam had both been invited to send observers, but neither country was represented at the opening.

The ministers are expected to spend some time discussing the reconstruction of the Vietnamese, along with the current situation in the Khmer Republic.