Bangkok  - Thailand, in its position as chair of the Assocation of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), expressed the group's "grave concern" about the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, officials said Tuesday.

"The government of the Union of Myanmar, as a responsible member of ASEAN, has the responsibility to protect and promote human rights," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

The statement was released after a meeting of senior officials from ASEAN's 10 member countries on Phuket island, 500 kilometres south of Bangkok, Thai Foreign Ministry officials said.

Monday's start of a fresh trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces charges of violating the terms of her detention by allowing a US national to swim this month to her compound-cum-prison on Inya Lake in Yangon, has drawn protests and statements of concern from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

ASEAN has previously asked ruling military junta of Myanmar, which was previously known as Burma, to free Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 19 years under detention.

If found guilty of the fresh charges against her, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate faces a minimum of three and a maximum of five more years in jail.

"With the eyes of the international community on Myanmar at present, the honour and the credibility of the government of the Union of Myanmar are at stake," the ASEAN statement cautioned.

Suu Kyi's trial was expected to be discussed at the ASEAN senior officials meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in Phuket, Thai Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Thnai Thongpakdi said.

ASEAN earlier this year ratified establishing an ASEAN human rights body, which is scheduled to meet for the first time soon.

"What is going to happen when the issue of Burma is raised at the ASEAN human rights body?" asked Bo Hla Tint, foreign affairs spokesman for the National Coalition Government of Burma, a rebel government in exile.

"ASEAN has to do something," he said. "ASEAN has to think seriously about suspending Myanmar's membership in the grouping." (dpa)