July 31st, 1961: The establishment of Association of Southeast Asia (ASA)
Do you know that before ASEAN was established in 1967, there are many efforts to foster cooperation between Southeast Asian countries? One of them is Association of Southeast Asia (ASA)
Association of Southeast Asia was established on July 31th, 1961 by Federation of Malaya, The Philippines, and Thailand to enhance cooperation on economic and culture. However, ASA did not achieve much progress and success due to conflict between the Philippines and the Federal Union of Malaya on territorial claims of Sarawak and Sabah. Finally, ASA was replaced by the establishment of ASEAN in 1967.