BANGKOK - JAPANESE Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone met Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya on Saturday for brief but wide-ranging talks that dealt with the recent closure of Bangkok's airports by protesters.

The 'warm and cordial' discussions took place at 4.30pm (5.30pm Singapore time) at Suvarnabhumi international airport, which was closed for eight days from late November by anti-government demonstrators backed by the Thai foreign minister.

Some 350,000 travellers were left stranded by the airport closure, including more than 5,000 Japanese nationals.

A spokesman for the Japanese minister said Kasit had assured them it would not happen again.

'I assured them (the Japanese) of the stability of Thai society and the government is determined to act for the benefit of the people, so there would be no cause for concern or for any type of discontent that could lead to any type of protest,' Mr Kasit told AFP.

'It's passe, we have a new government, a working government,' he added, describing the talks as 'warm and cordial'.

The talks centred on bilateral economic cooperation, both sides said.

Mr Kasit said he was keen to secure technology transfer and training agreements with the Japanese to boost Thai small and medium sized businesses.

A spokesman for the Japanese delegation said a problem of import tax being charged on steel entering Thailand for manufacture by Japanese firms, contrary to a bilateral agreement, had also been resolved.

No further details were agreed on the timing of regional talks with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), originally planned for last November but postponed amid political turmoil in the kingdom.

But Mr Kasit said they were likely to be held in late April with the Asean +3 members - Japan, China and South Korea.

Other topics covered by the talks included cooperation in countering Somali pirates, who have seized several Asian ships in recent weeks, and humanitarian cooperation including support for United Nations reforms and Japan's chairmanship of the UN Security Council beginning in February for six months.

Mr Nakasone left Bangkok after the meeting to fly to Cambodia for talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen before his final stop in Laos on Sunday. -- AFP