by Zhu Li, Nuttanan Srithorn

Just days before his official visit to China, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday expressed his hope to boost the Sino-Thai cooperation as well as his ambition to meet or even surpass the 2010 Sino-Thai investment, tourism and trade targets in face of the ongoing global economic and financial crisis.

"I am going to enhance the partnership and relationship between China and Thailand in very challenging times, when the world is facing a financial and economic crisis... at the same time there are also significant opportunities for the expansion of the relationship between China and Thailand, China and the ASEAN," the prime minister told Xinhua on Sunday, referring his four-day visit to China, which lasts from June 24 to 27 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

This will be the first time that Abhisit visits China since he took office in December 2008 at the age of 44, becoming the youngest prime minister in Thai history.

Though satisfied with the policies and determination of both governments to increase various ties, "not only economic but also cultural and in other aspects", the premier admitted in the interview that he is "slightly anxious" about the effect of the global economic crisis as well as the impact it had on Sino-Thai relationship.

"We set targets for 2010, in terms of volume of trade, in terms of the number of tourists, in terms of investment. Before the crisis, I think we are on track and can meet those targets quite comfortably.

"But the first half of this year has seen a big drop in exports and number of tourists. That's a concern and is something we should discuss to see how we can fix that.

"At the very least, I think we should still aim for the targets that have been set in the past, if not actually being more ambitious, say, maybe we can try to even up that, and hope that next year and the year after, we'll see more favorable circumstances. "

According to Thailand's Commerce Ministry in April, the Sino-Thai trade target for 2010 is 50 billion U.S. dollars.

Specifically addressing the issue of boosting Thai tourism and attracting more Chinese tourists, Abhisit introduced the measures taken by his government, including waiving visa fees, reducing landing fees, and trying to provide further incentives.

Tourism Authority of Thailand's data on June 4 said that for the first quarter of 2009, visitor arrivals to Thailand totaled some 3.2 million, down 19 percent compared to the same period last year.

The tourism sector, generating about 540 billion baht (about 15.4 million U.S. dollars) annually, makes up more than 6 percent of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) and 7 percent of its work force.

Attributing the drop of tourism to the global economic crisis, the domestic red-shirt protests in April and the A/H1N1 influenza threat, the Thai premier said he will explain to Chinese "what the situation is here" and try to reassure China and to ask the Chinese government to encourage people to come here.

Talking about the ASEAN Summit and Related Summits scheduled for October in Thai island Phuket, Abhisit said, "I think the Phuket meeting will be significant in terms of how China and the ASEAN can cooperate further to help solve the problems, not just for the region but also make Asia the lead region for recovering (from the economic crisis)."

Seeing China "a very important strategic partner" of Thailand and his trip a very important one, Abhisit said that one of the indicators for the importance is that he is heading to China with the biggest delegation Thailand ever organized since he assumed the prime minister's office, which includes more than 100 representatives from both the government and the private sectors.

"I think we are considered relatives by the two peoples," said Abhisit with a smile when mentioning the Sino-Thai relationship. He also saw the baby panda, who was delivered on May 27 in Thailand by the panda Lin Hui borrowed from China, "another ambassador to help bring the two countries even closer."

The Prime Minister appeared more relaxed when talking about the panda couple, Lin Hui and Chuang Chuang, who during their temporary stay in Thailand gave birth to a baby panda, the most popular star these days among Thai people. "All of the Thais, especially children are very exciting about her birth. As you know, -- I wouldn't say on daily, almost on hourly basis, -- you'll see some news reports."

And asked what name he himself would give the baby panda since there is a nationwide naming competition, Abhisit just laughed and declined to say it, "(Showing) my preference might influence the outcome...What I will say, though, is that it'll be nice to have a name that has the meaning of both Chinese and Thai. That would be the best."

He said the Thai government hopes to set up a permanent panda research center to give birth to more panda babies, though it needs the assistance and cooperation from China. "I hope it would be another area where we could increase and enhance our relationship."

Source: Xinhua