THIS morning, Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Gareth Evans will have settled himself in Bangkok for the annual ASEAN foreign ministers conference preparing for another round of briefings and meetings.
But, in Asia and his native Australia, the fiery Mr Evans is as well-known for his gaffes as for his triumphs.
His latest blunder came after he revealed that the human remains discovered in a search in Cambodia were thought to be those of former residents of Hong Kong's Lamma, Dominic Chappell, his girlfriend Kellie Wilkinson and their British friend Tina Dominy. Mr Evans' role in linking the find to the missing trio, earned him a slating in the territory and abroad from those who feared for other lives in the guerilla-held region. The bearded diplomat was already known in the territory for another pair of notorious slip-ups which added to a lengthy catalogue of ''best forgotten moments''.
There was the Hong Kong Asia Society luncheon speech in March, when he was asked about the fate of an Australian citizen who has languished in a Shenzhen jail since October 1993.
The case of James Peng Jiandong, of personal concern to the 20,000-odd Australian passport holders in Hong Kong, apparently slipped the mind of the foreign affairs guru.
Within minutes of the lunch, the senator was brought up to date by staff from Hong Kong's Australian Consulate, who insisted their minister was simply too busy to take all their briefings before the lunch speech.