Singapore Accepts Joint Visa Deal

[george]

Singapore accepts joint visa deal

Bid to lure more tourists to the two nations

BANGKOK: -- Thailand and Singapore yesterday agreed to enhance tourism cooperation by offering joint visas and tour packages to attract more tourists to the two countries.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong met yesterday at the third Thai-Singapore prime ministerial retreat in Chiang Mai.

Mr Thaksin said the two countries would work on a system to issue a single visa which tourists from other countries could use to gain entry into both countries.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand and its Singapore counterpart would soon draw up plans to offer joint package tours to the two countries, in the hope of attracting more Japanese and Korean tourists to Singapore and more Indonesian visitors to Thailand.

The two countries would set the scheme in motion by first issuing joint visas.

Other countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would be invited to join the initiative later.

In addition, the two countries would also work together to develop an energy grid for the Asean region in order to share energy sources within the region at the initial stage.

Government spokesman Surapong Seubwonglee said the energy cooperation would be later extended to include India and other Asian nations.

He said the cooperation would be similar to what Thailand had done in its deals with Burma on gas, and Laos on hydropower.

Mr Thaksin said Thailand and Singapore would look into the possibility of setting up a ''virtual stock market'' in order to make both stock markets more attractive to investors.

The virtual stock market would allow investors to trade Thai stocks via the Singapore stock market and vice versa. But the initiative, if implemented, may affect stock brokers.

The Ministry of Finance has been assigned to study the details, including the brokerage fees for traders in the two stock markets.

Mr Thaksin said Thailand has signed a regional agreement on combatting piracy and may take part in joint air patrols over the Malacca Straits.

''Thailand supports the initiative on the 'eyes in the skies' and we will consider participation to some extent so that we can contribute in some way to the region's security,'' Mr Thaksin said.

Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon signed the regional cooperation agreement on anti-piracy (ReCAAP) on the government's behalf.

The ''eyes in the skies'' aerial patrol initiative has been promoted by Malaysia to counter piracy and terrorism threats in the Malacca Straits, a major international shipping route.

The three littoral states of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have already begun coordinated sea patrols in the waterway, and agreed last month to boost surveillance with joint air patrols.

''A problem like the Malacca Straits is not just a problem for the countries which are right there on the border,'' Mr Lee said, adding that poor security causes freight costs to increase.

''If there is a terrorist incident in the Straits of Malacca, the whole region will be affected,'' he said.

Thailand is not a littoral state of the waterway, but as it is situated on its northern approaches, it could become involved in protecting the area, Mr Lee added.

''There may be opportunities for us to work together with Thailand to intensify some activities and patrols so as to have a deterrent effect and a confidence-building effect,'' he said.

The specific details of Thailand's involvement and the level of cooperation with the three nations bordering the strait are still to be hammered out by officials, Mr Kantathi said.

''The principle is that we want to help ensure the straits of Malacca is safe, secure, (and) we want to ensure that the situation about piracy is of course dealt with in a comprehensive way,'' he said.

What measures would be appropriate, such as sending troops or naval patrols, and where they would operate, was still to be decided, he added.

--AFP/Bangkok Post 2005-09-04

[astral]

The visa will not be of much use to Europeans or Americans as they

already have access to both countries without having to bother with

a visa in advance.