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The Thai people are quite happy that the political situation has returned to something approaching normalcy and they can continue with their lives. The Democrat-led government is running the show now. Major issues confronting the country such as the economic recession and assistance to rural areas affected by floods, among other things, are being taken care of.

The Cabinet has approved a Bt700-billion economic stimulus package for the next two years. It will be sooner rather than later when we find out whether Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has got the mettle to deal with a myriad of challenges. This will determine the destiny of his government. However, one thing is certain to work in his favour. The prime minister will be able to chair the upcoming 14th Asean Summit with a high level of efficiency. After months of uncertainty, the summit is now scheduled to be held in Hua Hin from February 27 to March 1.

This summit meeting is important at three different levels. For Thailand, it is time to display the best of the country and its new leader. Abhisit is indeed lucky because he has the unique opportunity to chair the summit only weeks after having taken the helm. Others Thai leaders were in power for longer before they were able to host Asean leaders. The first Asean Summit was held in Bangkok in December 1995, when Banharn Silapa-acha was chair. In 2003, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had the time of his life when he hosted the Apec summit, turning the economic meeting into a huge public relations exercise for his leadership. He spent nearly Bt250 million just to advertise Thailand as the Apec host. Colourful hoardings and posters were seen all over the place, with his portrait in both local and international media.

At this juncture, a successful summit would help to restore the country's international credibility, which has been destroyed because of the political turmoil of the past months. It is disheartening that the opposition Pheu Thai Party wants to disrupt the summit by all means. But the opposition should join with the government to ensure the meeting this time will be productive and fruitful. When the Democrats were in opposition, they pledged full cooperation with previous governments for the legal passage of Asean-related documents.

Within Asean, Abhisit is still an untested leader. This meeting will offer him ample opportunity to display his leadership and charisma. He is interested in Asean and its overall scheme of cooperation but he has never chaired a summit with the regional grouping's leaders, who come from such diverse political and economic backgrounds. We are confident that he will perform well.

We have to thank the Asean leaders, who have been very patient with, and supportive of, Thailand, as there have been several cancellations and changes of venue for the summit. Cambodia and Singapore notably wanted to have the summit held as soon as possible because of its timely importance - this meeting will be the first since the Asean Charter came into force. For its part, Thailand must promote the sanctity of the charter. The prestige and success of the grouping will depend on the level of compliance by member countries on the agreements they have signed. In the past four decades, Asean has managed to implement just 30 per cent of its agreements. With the new charter, it is hoped that all Asean members will perform better.

Internationally, Asean is playing a crucial role, providing a suitable forum for major powers like China, Japan, India and Australia to meet and exchange views. The relevancy of Asean will depend on how it responds to the challenges posed by the global financial crisis. Asean has already learned valuable lessons from the 1997 financial crisis, and member countries have set up surveillance and assistance systems, which can be broadened to encompass other regional countries.

Later this year, Thailand will host another summit, to which Bangkok would like to invite the new US President Barack Obama. If he is willing to attend the Asean-US Commemorative Summit, which was postponed from last September, then it would render strong support for Asean.

Thailand still has 348 days remaining as the Asean chair. We cannot waste any more time. In the past six months, the country has achieved little as chair because of the protracted political squabbling. Now, Thais of all political hues should unite and support the Asean summit and its related activities. Thailand's image and success depends on the cooperation of all Thais.