Zuckerberg is not meeting with Thai PM: Facebook

APD NEWS

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By APD Writer Chen Jiabao

BANGKOK, Oct.19 (APD) - Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg had no plan to meet with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Facebook Thailand said in a statement on Wednesday after the country's leaders announced that Facebook boss would meet them in late October.

"There are no plans currently for any of our senior leaders to visit Thailand", according to the statement by a Facebook spokesman released Wednesday.

The response came after the news hit headlines of most Thai media.

Prayut on Tuesday said Zuckerberg would visit Thailand and meet him to discuss how to cope with cyber crimes.

Somkid Jatusripitak, deputy prime minister in charge of economy, announced on Monday that the social media giant would meet with the junta chief on Oct.30 to talk about e-commerce.

He described it "good for the image of Thailand and Thailand is one of the countries being watched and considered for world partnerships".

The government has not made any comment on Facebook's statement. Somkid has asked for a sick leave as reported by local media.

Thai internet service providers had asked the social platform to block 600 Facebook pages ordered closed by the Thai court, as part of the 6,900 web pages or websites the court has ordered closed since 2015.

Thailand, a country with a population of 67 million, has 46 million registered Facebook users. Two percent of Facebook accounts in the world are logging on from Thailand.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)