BANGKOK • It has fallen into something of a pattern that the community relations division of the Asean secretariat holds a forum every year ahead of Asean's mid-year summit that brings select journalists to interact with key officials from the region - typically from that year's host country.

This year, editors who gathered in Thailand, host of the 2019 summits, gained significantly from the presence at the forum of Asean Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi, who has been rather taciturn with media since he took charge at the 10-nation organisation early last year.