Thai PM to visit Cambodia to boost bilateral relations

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha will make an official visit to Cambodia on Oct. 30-31 to boost bilateral ties and cooperation, a senior Cambodian official said Sunday.

"At the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Prayuth will visit Cambodia at the end of this month," Kao Kim Hourn, minister attached to Prime Minister Hun Sen, told reporters while returning from an Asia-Europe Summit in Italy with Hun Sen.  

He said on the sidelines of the Summit in Italy on Thursday, the two leaders met to discuss ways to heighten bilateral relations and cooperation.

"His Excellency Prayuth extended his appreciation to Prime Minister Hun Sen for supporting Thailand amid political changes," he said.

The official added that the two leaders also pledged to enhance bilateral ties and cooperation in politics, economics, trade, investment, tourism, and combating cross-border crimes.

In the meeting, Hun Sen also asked his Thai counterpart to look into the source of the production of 7.16 million counterfeit U.S. dollar bills that Cambodia seized from three Thai traffickers, who smuggled them into Cambodia last month.  

Prayuth was elected as the 29th Thai prime minister by the National Legislative Assembly in August, three months after his controlled army seized power through a bloodless coup on May 22, toppling the civilian government led by deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.