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ASEAN was preceded by an organization called the Association of Southeast Asia, an [[alliance]] consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand that was formed in 1961. The bloc itself, however, was established on [[August 8]], [[1967]], when [[foreign ministers]] of five countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – met at the Thai Department of Foreign Affairs building in [[Bangkok]] and signed the ASEAN Declaration, more commonly known as the [[Bangkok Declaration]]. The five foreign ministers – [[Adam Malik]] of Indonesia, Narciso R. Ramos of the Philippines, [[Abdul Razak]] of Malaysia, [[S. Rajaratnam]] of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand – are considered as the organization's Founding Fathers.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Asia-Pacific Profile |author=Bernard Eccleston, Michael Dawson, Deborah J. McNamara |year=1998 |publisher=Routledge (UK) |url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0415172799&id=l07ak-yd6DAC&pg=RA1-PA311&lpg=RA1-PA311&ots=XgqmmGV3CC&dq=%22Bangkok+Declaration%22+ASEAN&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=u2ddDhzn-yVhEn5Fwu3d8iih0OA|id=ISBN 0415172799 }}</ref>
The [[motivation]]s for the [[birth]] of ASEAN were the [[desire]] for a stable external [[environment]] (so that its [[member]]s’ governing [[elite]] could concentrate on nation building), the common fear of communism, reduced faith in or mistrust of external
In 1976, the [[Melanesian]] state of [[Papua New Guinea]] was accorded observer status.<ref>[http://www.aseansec.org/3839.htm ASEAN secretariat]</ref>. Throughout the 1970s, the organization embarked on a program of economic cooperation, following the [[Bali]] Summit of 1976. This foundered in the mid-1980s and was only revived around 1991 due to a Thai proposal for a [[regional]] [[free trade area]]. The bloc then grew when [[Brunei Darussalam]] became the sixth member after it joined on [[January 8]], [[1984]], barely a week after the country became independent on [[January 1]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Background Note:Brunei Darussalam/Profile:/Foreign Relations |publisher=United States State Department |url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2700.htm |accessdate=2007-03-06 }}</ref>
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