Hua Hin, Thailand, Oct 24 NZPA - Some facts about Asean and the East Asia Summit:

* Asean is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It was established in 1967 in Bangkok.

* Its original members were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

* Asean was originally set up to encourage peace and co-operation in the region as it coped with war in Indo-China and the end of colonialism.

* There was no limitation on membership and the following countries have joined since its establishment: Brunei Darussalam (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), Cambodia (1999).

* In order to join countries had to sign peace and co-operation agreements and join up to a nuclear weapon free zone.

* Over the years it has acted on a wider economic and political agenda with trade taking the forefront when many of the countries' economies began to boom in the late 1980s and in 1992 Asean began moves towards creating a free trade zone. There has also been discussion on an Asian currency unit, tradable across the area.

* The East Asia Summit meetings were originally just Asean plus Japan, China and South Korea. Over time India and then Australia and New Zealand were invited with many believing this was an attempt to reduce the domination of China.

* Asean nations and the original "plus three nations" are not in agreement about whether Asean plus three or the East Asia Summit should be the primary focus of Asean nations. There is also debate about how the arrangements fit into the Apec meetings, though India is not part of Apec.

* Other countries such as Pakistan, Mongolia, Russia and East Timor have sought to join the summit but a freeze has been placed on membership as its role is not clearly defined.

* Japan originally proposed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (Cepea) and many in Asean have embraced the idea and this is now to be discussed at the Fourth East Asia Summit under way in Thailand.

* The Asean nations have not always been united despite their agreements. Myanmar has resisted discussion about its human rights record; Thailand and Cambodia have had ongoing border disputes, sometimes ending in fatal shootouts.

* This is Thailand's third attempt to hold the Fourth East Asian Summit. The first two were postponed due to internal politics and protest. The last attempt in Pattaya ended in a dramatic fashion when protesters broke through the front entrance and stormed the venue, forcing leaders to flee the area in helicopters.

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