THAILAND and Malaysia will strengthen cooperation in the areas of defence and border security, acting Thai Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said.

He said Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s visit was a good opportunity to advance cooperation between the two countries in the area of defence.

“The visits at all commander levels will also strengthen cooperation in all dimensions, especially on border security.

“Both parties agreed to further reinforce cooperation on border security under the three meeting frameworks – General Border Committee, High Level Committee and Regional Border Committee,” he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Prawit, who is also the deputy prime minister, received a courtesy call from Hishammuddin at the Government House.

Hishammuddin was in Bangkok at the invitation of Defence Minister Prayuth Chan o-cha, and attended the Defence and Security Expo 2022 at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre on Monday.

Meanwhile, Prawit said Thailand and Malaysia agreed to push forward infrastructure projects at the Thai-Malaysian borders.

“Transportation routes will be concretely developed, while other pending projects, such as construction of road linking customs checkpoints of the two countries, and construction of new bridges crossing Golok River, will be pushed forward,” he said. 

In February, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his Thai counterpart Prayuth agreed that both countries should speed up negotiations for the implementation of infrastructure projects at the borders.

The projects include the construction of the Rantau Panjang–Sungai Golok Bridge, Pengkalan Kubor-Tak Bai Bridge, and the road alignment connecting the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex and the new Sadao Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex in Songkhla.

Meanwhile, Prawit said Malaysia and Thailand hope the peace talks in southern Thailand would help end the conflict and bring peace to the border area. 

At present, former national police chief Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor, who represents the Malaysian government, is acting as the facilitator for the peace talks in southern Thailand. – Bernama, August 31, 2022.