Phuket, Thailand  - The next summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been scheduled for October in Thailand and the host is seeking to involve the United Nations, a senior official said Tuesday.

Thailand is inviting United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to tag on an ASEAN-UN summit to the regional summit October 23-25 on Phuket island.

"We would try to squeeze it in to the programme, but it is likely we would have to expand the duration of the summit," said Vitavas Srivihok, director general of ASEAN affairs at Thailand's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Thailand, which is chair of ASEAN this year, is trying to persuade Ban to initiate the ASEAN-UN Summit and ASEAN Global Dialogue at the summit but the United Nations has yet to confirm his attendance, Vitavas said.

ASEAN, since adopting the ASEAN Charter in December, now holds two summits each year, doubling the time if not the money spent of these regional gatherings.

ASEAN has set itself a goal of achieving an "ASEAN community" with closer economic, political, social and cultural integration by 2015.

The community vision has this year entailed many more summits and meetings.

"We are trying to adjust the structure of ASEAN to be more efficient and effective," Vitavas said.

Phuket, 600 kilometres south of Bangkok, was chosen to host an ASEAN foreign ministers meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum this week and the next summit because it is deemed less of a security risk than Bangkok or Pattaya, a beach community south-east of the capital.

An effort by Thailand to host a summit between the 10-nation ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea had to called off mid-meeting in April after anti-government protestors stormed the venue at Pattaya, forcing the Asian leaders to beat a hasty retreat.(dpa)