Date: 28 August 2003

Traveling around the Southeast Asian region with a single visa is a possibility when there was an initiative to adopt an EU-style regime to increase tourism.

Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra is expected to raise the issue at the ASEAN summit in Bali in October.

One visa could be offered to all 10 ASEAN countries or a single visa for the two or three countries best prepared to implement the regulation.

The new regime will also bring great opportunity to organize international sport events such as a marathon bicycle competition similar to Tour de France, covering Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma. The event, proposed to be held each November, would promote new tourism routes in the four countries and generate income for hotels, restaurants and other services along the routes.

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