AP

Posted: 2008-03-14 02:00:58

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej met Friday with the leader of military-ruled Myanmar during a one-day courtesy visit, official sources said.

Samak, traveling with Thailand’s foreign minister and army commander, held talks with Senior Gen. Than Shwe in the new capital of Naypyitaw, Myanmar government sources said. The sources declined to give their names because they were not authorized to speak with the press.

Thai government spokesman Wichianchote Sukchotrat said there was no fixed agenda for the trip, calling it a courtesy visit by the new prime minister.

Samak was to fly from Naypyitaw to the country’s largest city, Yangon, to attend the inauguration of a new Thai Embassy building, meet Thai businessmen and visit the famous Shwedagon pagoda before returning home.

Thailand is one of Myanmar’s biggest foreign investors and trading partners, and it is eager to increase its economic interests in the military-ruled country despite sanctions by some Western countries, which condemn Myanmar’s human rights record.