YANGON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein left Nay Pyi Taw Thursday to attend the 15th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and related meetings in Hua Hin, Thailand, official sources from the new capital said.

    At the invitation of his Thai counterpart Abhisit Veijajiva, Thein Sein will be attending the summits scheduled for Friday to Sunday in the southern Thai beach resort town.

    Thailand stands the 2009 ASEAN chairmanship.

    The last 14th ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin in February-March this year touched on the implementation of ASEAN Charter and regional and international issues, global financial crisis, disaster management, food and energy security, and regional and international situation.

    At the summit, the ASEAN heads of government signed the Declaration on Roadmap for ASEAN Community. Other agreements were also inked which are -- ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement, ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, Protocol to Implement the 7th Package of Commitments under ASEAN Framework Agreement on Service, and three programs for mutual recognition of ASEAN Quality.

    A follow-up ASEAN summits with China, Japan, South Korea, India, East Asia and the United Nations in Pattaya in April were forced to cancel after thousands of red-shirt demonstrators of the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) stormed in the summit venues.

    Myanmar, which joined the ASEAN along with Laos in July 1997, ratified the ASEAN Charter in July last year.

    Myanmar has urged its people to strive together in building the ASEAN community, anticipating that the future emergence of the ASEAN community by 2015 will benefit Myanmar citizens along with other regional members in sharing the fruits of peace and stability, prosperity and socio-cultural development.

    ASEAN's three pillars are known as political security community, economic community and socio-culture community.

    ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.