8 August 1967

Southeast Asian nations form Asean

The new five-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was born when foreign ministers of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand met in Bangkok to sign the Asean Declaration.

The organisation became a talking shop for economic affairs and posturing amid grand-sounding projects, but some were optimistic it could bring diverse countries and cultures closer, solve international and domestic problems and deal with its citizens’ diseases and poor education.

Asean replaced the smaller Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), which contained Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Earlier, ASA had been suspended from 1963 to 1966 after diplomatic relations degenerated between the Philippines and Malaysia. Asean later added Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia to become a 10-member organisation by 1999.

8 August 1967

Southeast Asian nations form Asean

The new five-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was born when foreign ministers of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand met in Bangkok to sign the Asean Declaration.

The organisation became a talking shop for economic affairs and posturing amid grand-sounding projects, but some were optimistic it could bring diverse countries and cultures closer, solve international and domestic problems and deal with its citizens’ diseases and poor education.

Asean replaced the smaller Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), which contained Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Earlier, ASA had been suspended from 1963 to 1966 after diplomatic relations degenerated between the Philippines and Malaysia. Asean later added Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia to become a 10-member organisation by 1999.