The two countries faced no difficulty in their relations now, but good ties needed to continue for the mutual benefit of both, said the Thai Ambassador to Hanoi, Kittiphong na Ranong.

"What we have to do from now on is to enhance integration, with both countries becoming part of a community for survival in a rapidly changing world," said the ambassador.

Thailand and Vietnam were no longer enemies with different ideologies but members of the same regional grouping - Asean - whose economic integration would benefit everyone, he said.

Relations between the two countries have been both turbulent and smooth since then Thai foreign minister Bhichai Rattakul visited Vietnam and signed a joint communique to establish ties on August 6, 1976.

Relations soured between 1978 and 1989 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia to oust the notorious Khmer Rouge regime from Phnom Penh. Thailand considered the Vietnamese presence in Cambodia a major threat to its security.

It was Bhichai again who restored relations in November 1989 after Vietnam withdrew its troops from Cambodia and the two countries began a new chapter of cooperation.

Since then, the two countries have signed more than 25 pacts and memoranda of understanding, including security agreements on violence and trans-border criminal activity.

Vietnam and Thailand have settled disputes over territorial fishing rights in overlapping areas of the Gulf of Thailand, as well as Vietnamese migration to Thailand.

Concerns have been raised that similarities in many sectors of trade and investment would spark fierce competition between the two countries. Low production costs could make Vietnam more competitive than Thailand, investors have noted.

Similarities, however, could help cooperation rather than competition, said the chairman of the Vietnam-Thailand Friendship Association, Ta Quang Ngoc.

In a letter to Vietnamese leader Nguyen Tan Dung, Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the two countries enjoyed relations in the frameworks of many regional groupings including Asean, the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Relations should be further enhanced, proactive and forward-looking to serve the interests of the people of both countries, he said.

Among Asean members, Thailand's investment in Vietnam ranked third with 132 projects and total investment capital of Bt1.4 billion. Two-way trade increased significantly between 2000-2004 to Bt1.1 billion. For the first five months of this year, turnover of two-way trade between Thailand and Vietnam reached Bt1.4 billion, up 30 per cent from the same period last year.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Hanoi