Border pact on travel set to be sig

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Subject: Border pact on travel set to be signed 

Date: 13 Jun 1997 
The Nation 

Border pact on travel set to be signed 

BY MARISA CHIMPRABHA 

THAILAND and Cambodia will soon have their first cross-border agreement to 
regulate travel and promote communications, the Foreign Ministry's Director 
for East Asian Affairs Nopadol Gunavibool said yesterday. 

Once the agreement is signed, Thailand's border agreements with its 
neighbouring countries ­ Laos, Cambodia and Burma ­ will be in order. Thailand 
already has an agreement with Burma and will soon sign one with Laos, he said. 


Under the agreement, permanent residents living in districts that have a 
border checkpoint or crossing will be able to apply for the pass, he said, 
adding that the two-year pass will allow the holder to stay in the bordering 
country for one week. 

The holder will be allowed to extend his visit only once during each stay. The 
local residents' pass will be used for visiting relatives, tourism, official 
duties, business and sport, Nopadol said. 

''Those who do not live in districts where checkpoints or crossings are 
located will be required to apply for a visa at the Cambodian Embassy in 
Bangkok. With the visa, they have to enter the country through international 
checkpoints only," Nopadol said. 

The director was speaking after attending a meeting with Cambodia's Deputy 
Foreign Minister Ung Sean to conclude the details of the cross-border 
agreement. 

Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh will witness the signing of the agreement 
with Cambodia during his visit to Phnom Penh on June 21 and 22. 

Before going to Cambodia, Chavalit will visit Laos from June 20 to 21 and sign 
a similar agreement. 

Nopadol said the agreement would go into effect 90 days after it is signed. 

Thailand and Cambodia presently have three temporary checkpoints and have 
already agreed in principle to upgrade two, in Sa Kaew and Trat provinces, to 
international standards. 

Nopadol said both countries are expected to have officials opening the two 
checkpoints shortly after the cross-border agreement is signed. 

Cambodia has submitted a list of border passes they want opened to promote 
trade, but certain problem still persist, as both sides call the areas close 
to the proposed sites different names.