VISA Info: Thailand, Laos agree on visa exemption for 
officials

   Champassak (04 Sept. 97) - Thailand and Laos have agreed 
to waive visa requirements for official passport holders of 
both countries, a Thai official said on Wednesday.
   The agreement was reached at the seventh meeting of the 
Thai-Lao Joint Commission held here yesterday. The two 
countries had agreed a few months earlier to exempt visas 
for diplomatic passport holders.
   A senior Thai official from the Economic Department, 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who attended the meeting said 
that this was an attempt to facilitate official exchanges 
following the admission of Laos into the Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Laos and Myanmar were 
admitted into the regional grouping in July this year.
   "Details of the agreement on exempting visas for those 
holding official visas will be discussed later", the 
official said.
   While Laos reaffirmed plans to open a consulate office in 
Nan province by the next year to serve 12 provinces in north 
Thailand, Thailand told the meeting that budgetary 
constraints had made it difficult to implement its own 
plans.
   Thailand also said at the meeting that it was waiting for 
funds from Japan to build the second Mekong bridge linking 
Thailand's Mukdahan province with and Savannakhet in Laos.