The 30th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) started Tuesday at beach resort Pattaya in a central province of Chonburi of Thailand.

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday morning presided over the opening ceremony of the meeting which will last to Saturday under tight security.

At least 900 security men have been on standby to block any potential chaos, Thai language news agency INN reported.

Abhisit said the cooperation among the ASEAN countries are important to deal with many problems, including the new virus A/H1N1 influenza outbreak.

In the past, the cooperation among the ASEAN countries led to the success in handling with the post tsunami and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis, and economic problems, the Thai prime minister said.

For the first day of the meeting, one among important issues, which will be discussed, is admission of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam as a full member of the AIPA.

Meanwhile, vehicles of the general people have not been allowed to get close to the AIPA meeting venue, while there was no sign ofa rally by the anti-government protesters, or the red-shirted people.

ASEAN Secretary-General, Surin Pitsuwan, who is also participating in the AIPA meeting, said he has hoped the red-shirt people have learnt a lesson from the collapse of the ASEAN Summit and would not try to disrupt the AIPA meeting, the website by The Nation reported.

The 30th AIPA has been attended by representatives of parliaments from eight country members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and 10 dialogue partners.

The meeting has also been participated by Myanmar as the special observer, while Timor-Leste and Inter-Parliamentary Union are the special guests.

Source: Xinhua