Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrived in Vietnam for a whirlwind visit on Wednesday, travelling directly from an overnight stay in a Bangkok hospital following a bout of food poisoning.
At the start of talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung she apologised that because of her illness she would not be able to stay for an evening banquet, and AFP reporter saw.
Yingluck was to meet President Truong Tan Sang before returning to Thailand in the evening, officials said.
The premier was discharged from hospital at noon and told reporters that she was feeling "a bit better" and would head directly to the airport for the trip, which she said she did not want to postpone.
Yingluck did not want to cancel because an earlier visit to Hanoi was aborted after devastating floods hit Thailand this year, a diplomatic source said.
"I still have to take medicine (but) I can still go to Vietnam despite being slightly tired," the immaculately attired premier said, adding she had managed to eat a light meal in the hospital.
Yingluck is in Vietnam for talks on trade, investment and tourism -- including a proposal for a single tourist visa for Southeast Asian countries, her aides said.
Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul was accompanying Yingluck on the journey, her first as prime minister to Vietnam and her sixth official trip to an ASEAN country.
Yingluck, who has been grappling with the months-long flood crisis, was hospitalised in the early hours of Tuesday with diarrhoea, fatigue, abdominal pain and nausea.
She was given oral dehydration salts and ordered to rest, the hospital said Tuesday.
The 44-year-old leader, the younger sister of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was a political novice before taking office in August and has struggled to get a grip on Thailand's worst floods in half a century.
The government has faced criticism for its slow response and confusing public advice about the disaster, which has left more than 600 people dead.
At times the mother-of-one has showed signs of strain, appearing teary-eyed at news conferences and describing the crisis as overwhelming, while her political enemies have sought to use the occasion to undermine her popularity.
Her 62-year-old brother Thaksin remains a deeply divisive figure in Thailand. The former telecoms tycoon was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives abroad to avoid a two-year jail sentence for corruption.
Source: AFP Asian Edition
