The Thai architect of Asean who found winning formula  

This analysis of Asean brings to mind the always-topical opinions of Thanat Khoman, a visionary architect of Southeast Asia’s regional institution. A recent book titled “Dr Thanat Khoman: The Wit and Wisdom of the Leading Asean Founder”, published in Bangkok by Siam Renaissance, is eloquent on this topic.
A great Thai diplomat, Thanat negotiated and signed the Bangkok Declaration, Asean’s birth certificate, on August 8, 1967. 
The above-mentioned book records that one month later, Thanat explained the fundamentals of Asean in crystal-clear terms: “The underlying ideas of regional cooperation are, first, to create effective solidarity between nations of this area, to make our nations in this area more conscious of our proximity, of our having similar stakes, in freedom, in economic progress, in future well-being.”
As a diplomatic strategist and a strong believer in the values of dialogue and diplomacy, Thanat stated, “Should the spirit and purpose of Asean be appropriately and mutually upheld by all governments and peoples, we  will be able to attain greater heights of prosperity and progress and will contribute further to the stability and advancement of our region”.
These wise, prophetic words have a special resonance on this, the 50th anniversary of Asean – a regional organisation whose half-century success story has been based on solidarity and utilising dialogue and diplomacy as instruments of fu