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Published on July 23, 2007

Thai foreign minister Thanat Khoman chaired the meeting with his counterparts from the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and a deputy prime minister from Malaysia, at which they hammered out the final draft text of the Bangkok Declaration for the new regional organisation, which was supposed to be called the Southeast Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SEAARC. But this name did not survive after Indonesian foreign minister Adam Malik objected to it before the meeting adjourned on August 6. He told Sompong that the pronunciation of SEAARC in Bahasa Malay sounded vulgar. Sompong said the acronym was used because it denoted the crescent moon - an arc - covering Southeast Asia. "After Malik suggested "Asean", everybody agreed immediately," said the veteran diplomat, who is also an international law expert.

Thus, Asean was born two days later on August 8 when Thanat, Philippine secretary Marciso Ramos, Singapore's first foreign minister S Rajaratnam, Malaysian deputy prime minister Tengu Abdul Razak and Malik signed the historic document to establish the region's most famous grouping at Saranrom Palace, the former residence of the foreign ministry, near the Royal Palace.

Sompong, who was a close aide of Thanat, also revealed for the first time that at the Laem Thaen meeting, two ministerial-ranked representatives from Sri Lanka were waiting in a living room for a signal to join the discussion, which would in effect have made this South Asian nation one of the six founding members of Asean. "I remember one of them was an economic minister. He waited there anxiously for a signal to join the discussion, but it never came."

According to the 75-year-old law professor, it was Rajaratnam who strongly opposed the inclusion of Sri Lanka, arguing that the country's domestic situation was not stable, there would be trouble in the future and it would "not be good for a new organisation". At that time, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines did not have any objection to Sri Lanka's inclusion in Asean. Sompong said that these countries would have welcomed Sri Lanka as a member because its location was not far from mainland Southeast Asia. For Thailand, it would have meant the membership of an additional Buddhist country.

The idea of including all 10 Southeast Asian countries was always in the minds of Asean's founders, even though at that time the region was literally divided into three different blocs: non-communist Southeast Asia, communist Indochina and isolated Burma.

"We knew in our hearts they would be part of Asean one day. That was why, towards the end of the Declaration, we invited all countries of Southeast Asia to [eventually] join," he reiterated.

The expansion of Asean came in 1984 when Brunei joined the group, followed by Vietnam in 1995. Burma and Laos came in 1997. Cambodia became a member in 2000. Will Asean admit more members after 40 years? The answer is yes. Indeed, Asean is poised to admit East Timor, the world's newest independent nation. It will be the group's 11th and final member. That means the Asean leaders would have to turn down an application put forward by Papua New Guinea (PNG) recently to become the 12th member. PNG became an observer in Asean in 1976 and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

The veteran diplomat said that credit must be given to Thanat, who forged the idea of creating a new regional organisation following years of conflict and disturbance within the region. The so-called "konfrontasi" period between Indonesia and Malaysia and the Sulu crisis between Malaysia and the Philippines were still fresh in the memories of these countries' leaders. Thailand was in a good position to propose and work for the creation of Asean because it did not have any problems with these countries. As an independent nation, and one that was acceptable to all, the non-communist neighbouring countries resorted to the good offices of Thailand.

He pointed out that Asean was an offshoot of the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), which unfortunately ended in 1962, a year after it was created to promote regionalism and peace. Apart from Thailand, ASA members included Malaysia and the Philippines. So, Thailand needed only to persuade Indonesia, then under the leadership of Suharto. The country had just emerged from political crisis and the suppression of the communist movement. Indonesia was a mammoth country even then, with a population of 120 million.

Sompong also recalled Thanat asking him to put together the draft of the Bangkok Declaration, which was then sent to all the original members. Indonesia was the only country that amended the draft, asking for the deletion of the reference on the stationing of foreign military bases. At that time, all members including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand accommodated foreign bases and were signatories to military pacts with Western powers.

In retrospect and with hindsight, Sompong said Asean has progressed at the right pace and has not imposed rapid changes on member countries.

Finally Sompong quoted Rajaratnam, who said during the signing of the Bangkok Declaration that "if we do not hang together, we of the Asean nations will hang separately".

Kavi Chongkittavorn