Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra plans to discuss closer regional economic cooperation with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad during his one-day visit to Kuala Lumpur on April 24, a Thai government spokesman said on Wednesday. In particular, they will talk on how Asian economies, heavily dependent on the state of the US economy, should weather the economic slowdowns of the United States and Japan.

That's bloody boring and it's a terrible idea to set such agendas. Touchy-feely Asean chatter about "closer regional economic cooperation" will end up being just that - so much fluff and idle chatter. And if it turned to swap agreements and Mahathir's hobby horse of thwarting currency speculators lurking in the bushes, it could become downright counterproductive. Continuing to speak in the frank and frankly rude tone we've adopted, there isn't a damn thing "closer regional economic cooperation" can contribute at this stage to getting Malaysia and Thailand out of their current economic binds. Both countries are over-dependent on exports to the US and Japan, export precious little to each other as Mahathir has barred car parts exports from Thailand to protect another hobby horse, the national Proton car project, and the one thing they should concentrate on is how to develop domestic demand.

Of course, we can well understand that Thaksin wants to get out of Thailand for a while - even for just a day. The pot of gold a loony senator claimed to have discovered in his home province and with which Thaksin wanted to pay off the national debt has turned into a tin can; his recent asset statements don't seem to have been scrutinized by more competent accountants than his previous ones; his lawyers defending him against charges of corruption that could get him banned from political office for five years appear to be Podunk University law school graduates intent on assuring his conviction.

But enough of that. After getting an excellent start on governance by making good on his election promises for a farm debt moratorium, for inexpensive health care for all, for creating an asset management corporation to resolve bad bank loans, and for setting the framework for privatizing major state enterprises, Thaksin is floundering and seems to have lost his bearings. An equally floundering Mahathir, who can think of nothing better than throwing his political opponents in jail on the basis of trumped-up charges of intent to use explosives and a draconian internal securities act that would make British colonial administrators blush, is not the man Thaksin should have chosen to visit on his first foreign trip as prime minister, let alone think to consult on economic policy matters.

In the past several weeks as the Thai currency (the baht) reached lows to the US dollar not seen since 1998, there has been all sorts of talk that Thailand might impose exchange rate controls a la Mahathir - ironically at precisely the time that hard-pressed Malaysian exporters were urging their government to undo the ringgit peg to the greenback. Ever since some of his loose (but politically effective) "nationalist" campaign rhetoric on foreigners stripping and ripping off Thai assets, foreign investors have been weary of Thaksin's economic policy stance and labeled him a protectionist. In several editorials we have disputed such - we still believe - unwarranted claims. But Thaksin's choice of going to consult Mahathir, the avowed champion of such prattle, can only lend credence to it all.

Thaksin doesn't need Mahathir's advice - not even for feel-good purposes - and hopefully has been told by his own advisers that Mahathir frequently, for effect, says one thing, then - in practice - turns around and does another, more sensible one. He should stick to the agenda he laid out as he took office: Restructure Thai industry, make it less dependent on external demand, support and upgrade the farm sector where most Thais are employed, and privatize the state sector to create new opportunities for domestic and foreign investors alike.

Following his Malaysia sojourn, his spokesman said, Thaksin will visit Hong Kong for a couple of days, starting on May 8, where he will meet Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and other senior officials and have breakfast with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. (Didn't know Jiang was going to visit Hong Kong, but why not?) That could prove more useful and informative - the breakfast with Jiang, we mean. China has proved a few points recently on how to grow an economy even as external demand flags. But let's hope the breakfast chat won't end up dwelling on US spyplanes, or worse yet, swaps.