Montenegro's former leader meets Thai PM

BANGKOK, March 15 (TNA) - Montenegro's former president and prime minister Milo Djukanovic had a private and unscheduled meeting with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Bangkok's Government House Thursday to promote bilateral cooperation between Montenegro and Thailand. Although ongoing debt woes in Europe have affected the economy of Montenegro, the country remains as an attractive destination for international investors and The Thai prime minister has agreed with the possibility of expanding Thai investment in the European nation and promised to order relevant organizations to support bilateral cooperation between the two countries. The visiting former leader of Montenegro later met Thai Deputy Prime Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa, who is also Tourism and Sports Minister. Chumpol said that he discussed tourism topics with the Montenegro former leader, who also brought the tourism minister of Montenegro to Thailand to learn about the Kingdom's experiences on tourism development, especially in the globally-renowned southern resort Phuket province. Chumpol acknowledged that Montenegro wants to learn about Thailand's management and development of natural resources to have become one of the world's top tourist destinations. The Thai deputy premier insisted that he did not discuss any issue concerning former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who had initially stayed in Montenegro after his government was toppled by a military coup in September 2006. (TNA)