Najib on private trip to Thailand, says report

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was in Thailand on a private trip to meet his Thai counterpart Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and also to rest during the New Year's holiday, Bangkok Post reported today.

Quoting sources, it stated that Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor made a visit to Thailand on January 2.

The report coincided with the presence of the government jet in the Thai capital where the Airbus A319 had been tracked flying from Dubai to Bangkok early that morning.

"They went shopping, played golf and stayed overnight at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok," the report added.

During the visit, Najib also met with Prayut and held informal talks for 90 minutes at the Thai PM's residence.

Among the topics discussed, according to Bangkok Post, included Malaysia's Asean chairmanship.

The report added that since it was a private trip, the news of his visit was not highlighted as per standard protocol and for "etiquette" reasons.

"The Malaysian PM had to tweet that he had lunch with Prayut, thanking Thailand for donating 500 tonnes of rice to help flood victims in Malaysia to avoid criticism," the source told Bangkok Post.

Many Malaysians had criticised Najib after photographs of him playing golf with US President Barack Obama in Hawaii went viral.

The issue, however, became worse when the prime minister did not return to Malaysia on the government jet but instead flew home on a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) passenger aircraft, fuelling further speculation as to the whereabouts of the government jet and those on board.

It was reported yesterday that the Airbus A319, bearing tail number 9M-NAA, was parked at Subang Airport, after landing safely at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) the night before.

Prior to that, the plane was reported to have been in three different cities in the United States, followed by stops in London, Dubai and finally, Bangkok.

The Prime Minister's Office, in a statement to veteran journalist Datuk A.Kadir Jasin, said Najib had not been able to to use the official jet to return to Malaysia on December 27 as it had "technical issues".

Najib had also defended his golf game with Obama, calling it “golf diplomacy” which had been practised by Malaysian leaders in the past, including his father, the late Tun Abdul Razak.

He said the invitation by Obama “was difficult to decline” as it was planned based on other schedules. – January 6, 2015.

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