Prince Andrew has arrived in Thailand to help young entrepreneurs in his mentorship scheme while battling links with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit held in the Thai capital of Bangkok today.

The 59-year-old royal attended the conference at Muang Thong Thani in the Nonthaburi province as part of Pitch@Palace, an entrepreneur support organisation he founded in 2014.

Pitch@Palace has helped 931 start-up technology businesses to date and provides mentorship and links to potential investors.

Prince Andrew delivering his keynote address at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit held in the Thai capital of Bangkok today

Andrew arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, on Saturday and was met by the British Ambassador to Thailand Brian Davidson and Jirayu Isarngkul Na Ayudhya, Privy Councillor to the King of Thailand.

This morning, Andrew attended a preparation event for the Pitch@Palace initiative prior to a business pitch contest to be held on Monday.

The conference will hear pitches from a number of entrepreneurs and the start-up with the best pitch of the contest will then travel to St James' Palace on December 11.

The conference was part of Pitch@Palace, an entrepreneur support organisation Prince Andrew founded in 2014

After the Sunday morning event, Andrew visited the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit at Bangkok's Impact Exhibition Centre.

The event agenda included international trade, sustainable development and the future of industrialisation.

The Duke of York's appearance at the event comes after he made international headlines during the summer over his links with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein in New York's Central Park (left). Prince Andrew at Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell's London home with a 17-year-old Virginia Roberts Guiffre (right)

Strolling through New York’s Central Park with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, it shows the close friendship between the men in 2010 – two years after the US financier pleaded guilty to child sex charges in a controversial deal that saw him serve just 13 months.

But last week it was claimed the infamous shot may have been orchestrated by Epstein in a bid to boost his image.

It has also previously been alleged that a separate photograph of Andrew with his arm around former ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts may have been faked as part of an elaborate ‘stitch-up’.

The Prince and Epstein left the mansion at about 1.40pm. Donnelly followed on foot and took a picture from ground level before scrambling up some rocks to get a clearer shot

Jeffrey Epstein was found hanged in his New York prison cell on August 10 while facing sex trafficking and conspiracy charges

Andrew – who has always vehemently denied Ms Roberts’s claim that Epstein forced her to have sex with the Prince three times, the first when she was aged just 17 – reportedly authorised his inner circle to hire a forensics team to examine the two photographs.

The ASEAN summit has also featured meetings with world leaders and a speech from UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres about the plight of 730,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees from Burma.

ASEAN leaders meet each year to discuss policies on pressing issues while also maintaining a non-interference policy in their neighbour's affairs.

Mr Guterres said he was 'deeply concerned' about the numbers of refugees living in difficult conditions after the Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in 2017 when Burma's military began a harsh counterinsurgency campaign.

Andrew has since faced criticism about his links with Epstein, who was found hanged in his New York prison cell on August 10 while facing sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

However the Duke categorically denies any wrongdoing.

Buckingham Palace has also been forced to issue strong denials over allegations made by Virginia Roberts in court papers in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in the state.

The palace called the allegations 'false and without any foundation', saying 'any suggestion of impropriety with under-age minors' by the Duke was 'categorically untrue'.