Cambodia, Thailand Sign Visa Exemption

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 17 November 2010

via CAAI

Photo: AP

Passenger queue up at the airport check-in at Bangkok International airport, in Bangkok.

“Now is the time to strengthen and promote a good relationship between the two nations, by narrowing our disputes and widening resolutions and cooperation.”

Cambodia and Thailand signed an agreement on Wednesday that will allow their citizens to cross back and forth across borders without a visa.

The visa exemption is for passport holders only, and will be added to agreements Cambodia already has with most other Asean members, excepting Brunei and Burma.

The signing took place during a summit of five Mekong River countries and comes on the heels of major diplomatic tension between Cambodian and Thailand this year.

“Now is the time to strengthen and promote a good relationship between the two nations, by narrowing our disputes and widening resolutions and cooperation,” Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday.

Officials said they hoped the exemption would boost tourism. Around 60,000 Thai tourists have visited Cambodia in the first nine months of 2010, a drop of 9 percent from the same period last year.