On 7 February 2024, His Excellency Mr. Srettha Thavisin, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, welcomed Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and his spouse, Lok Chumteav Dr. Pich Chanmony, on their first official visit to Thailand.

During the visit, the Prime Minister of Cambodia and spouse were granted a royal audience with Their Majesties King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana at Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall in Dusit Palace. The Prime Minister of Cambodia also called on the President of the National Assembly and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate of Thailand, as well as presided over the Thailand - Cambodia Business Forum.

During the bilateral meeting at the Government House, both Prime Ministers discussed a broad range of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. They agreed to elevate the Thailand - Cambodia relations to Strategic Partnership to open up new opportunities for both countries to work closer at the full potential. The Thai side announced a plan to open the Royal Thai Consulate- General in Siem Reap, while the Cambodian side announced about the Royal Consulate-General of Cambodia in Songkhla this year to further deepen the connection and cooperation between the two countries and their peoples.

In this regard, both sides will hold the 7th Joint Trade Committee (JTC) to come up with a plan to inject new energy into bilateral trade towards the target of 15 billion US dollars by 2025. This will expedite humanitarian demining to make Thailand - Cambodia border free from landmines, which is important for safety of the people and economic development of the border areas, and will accelerate economic cooperation through the enhancement of cross-border trade, investment and tourism, to ensure economic development and well-being of people on both sides of the border.

For security cooperation issues, Thailand proposed that Thailand - Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) should be convened soon to make progress on boundary issues, including the upgrading of pending border-crossing checkpoints. The two countries will also strengthen cooperation to fight transnational crimes, especially cyber scam networks and energy security. Thailand and Cambodia also agreed to discuss further on the joint exploitation of the hydrocarbon resources in the Overlapping Claims Area between the two countries, simultaneously with the maritme delimitation.

On this occasion, both sides discussed about greater tourism cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia, as well as with other neighbouring countries. They agreed to explore ways to make it easier for tourists to travel across borders and visit points of interest in Thailand and Cambodia, as well as in other neighboring countries in one trip. In particular, regional tourism will be promoted through a “Six countries, One Destination” campaign (Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Lao PDR, and Myanmar). In this regard, Thailand proposed an update of the Agreement on Border Crossing between the Two Countries to allow for the use of temporary border pass, longer stay and access to non-border provinces like Siem Reap, as well as the resumption of negotiation on the Bilateral Agreement on Cross-Border Transportation by Road to enable border crossing by private cars.

Another important issue is cooperation in transboundary haze pollution, which they agreed to set up a joint working group to map out cooperation, including (1) establishing a hotline for sharing of information and alerts on burning locations, (2) emergency responses, and (3) capacity building and sharing of best practices in areas, such as agricultural burning management. Cambodia was invited to join the CLEAR Sky strategy with Thailand, Laos and Myanmar to strengthen regional cooperation on this important issue.

In addition, there are other cooperation areas, including labour, which the Thai side reassured the Cambodian side that Thailand attaches high importance to making sure that Cambodian workers in Thailand receive fair treatment and proper economic safety net, as well as the signing of 5 documents namely:

1) MoU on Cooperation in the Area of Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Response;

2) MoU on Academic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation;

3) MoU on the Transit of Goods;

4) MoU between Export-Import Bank of Thailand and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce to promote trade and investment between Thailand and Cambodia; and

5) MoU between Board of Trade of Thailand and Cambodia Chamber of Commerce.

Abovementioned cooperation areas will be the important platform that would contribute to the well-being and friendship between the peoples of both countries, especially in the occation that Thailand and Cambodia will celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2025.