Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Thailand seeks landing rights in Chennai

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI Aug. 9. Thailand has sought from India landing rights in Chennai for its airline, with a view to promoting tourism and business relations from both sides, according to the Thai Ambassador, Bandhit Sotipalalit.

``We are talking to (India's) Ministry of Civil Aviation on this issue and we look forward to the support of the Indian business fraternity to our suggestion,'' he said, addressing a meeting organised by the India-Sri Lanka-ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today.

Mr. Sotipalalit said the Thai International Airlines was at present operating daily flights from Delhi, besides thrice-a-week services from Calcutta and Mumbai. Thailand, which had a population equal to that of Tamil Nadu, viz., about 62 million, had an annual (global) tourist traffic of one million.

Emphasising the tourist attraction of Thailand, he said Indian entrepreneurs were welcome to set up hotels in Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok on their own or as joint ventures to cater to the vegetarians among Indian tourists. He said he favoured the establishment of a Thai consulate in Chennai. ``But my Prime Minister (Thaksin Shinawatra) favours Bangalore, and I am fighting with him on this issue,'' he quipped.

The Ambassador said though 92 per cent of the Thai population was Buddhist, Thai tourists to India were few because of infrastructure bottlenecks, including limited air connections and unsafe road traffic conditions in this country.

Thailand, he said, was keen to expand bilateral trade, which at the level of just about $1 billion, was limited despite the centuries-old cultural ties, as a result of the divide the two countries faced during the Cold War, perceiving each other as belonging to the Western and Soviet camps.

The Thai Prime Minister, who had visited India in November 2001 and February this year, was keen to get started a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ``whatever list of products India and Thailand agree upon'' (for coverage under nil import duty), covering other products over a longer term. Thailand was trying to have FTAs with China and the U.S. too.

The Ambassador said he was talking to the India Trade Promotion Organisation to have a ``barter arrangement'' in terms of space allocation in international trade fairs.

The Director of the Thai Trade Centre in Mumbai, Prakob Panjacharoensiri, said Thailand continued with import restrictions, mainly for some agricultural products. Promotion of business ties required attention to cultural factors such as differences in the pace with which English was spoken in the two countries and different approaches to pricing. The Additional Director of the GUIDANCE Bureau of Tamil Nadu, who gave a presentation on the State's competitive strengths, also called attention to the existing double taxation avoidance agreement between India and Thailand.

The president of the chamber, Raghu Kailas, said Thailand was fast recovering from the slump in exports and foreign direct investment, which it faced in the wake of the East Asian economic crisis and global recession.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Feeding programme ends in violence
• Breakdown of law and order: DMK
• 5 TMC MLAs want to maintain their identity
• Drought may hit cattle too
• Merger venue finalised
• Chengalpattu-Villupuram BG track likely by December
• Vaiko case: police examining materials
• Thailand seeks landing rights in Chennai
• Severe than Emergency raids, says Minister
• Tapping students for safe blood
• 7 imported cattle die of viral diarrhoea

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu