ALBRIGHT ARRIVES IN THAILAND

BANGKOK, Thailand, March 2 (UPI) - U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright has arrived in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, where she is
scheduled to visit a crop substitution project sponsored by Thailand's king.

Officials say the visit to the opium replacement project near Chiang Mai is
aimed at highlighting Thailand's close cooperation with the United States
in narcotics suppression efforts.

Albright, who touched down at Chiang Mai airport at 5:45 p.m. local time
(1045GMT), was also scheduled to visit a hill tribe cultural center in
Chiang Mai.

The city is Thailand's northern capital and has been one of the main
transit points for heroin grown by hill tribe farmers in the so-called
Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma meet.

Albright flew from Beijing, where she had delivered stern warnings to her
Chinese hosts that bilateral relations could suffer if the communist
government there continues its current crackdown on dissidents.

Her visit to Thailand is expected to be more congenial since the United
States has recently praised the government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai
for its cooperation in the international battle against narcotics and its
efforts to revive the kingdom's faltering economy.

Albright is scheduled to fly to Bangkok Wednesday for meetings with Chuan
and Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan.

She flies to Jakarta on Thursday.