Thai and Japanese Foreign Ministers signed the Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and on Co-operation in the Enforcement of Sentences, on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Phuket.
Both sides had started negotiations on the Treaty since 2007 in commemorations of the 120th Anniversary of Thailand - Japan Diplomatic Relations.
The Treaty provides measures for sentenced persons who have served the minimum periods of imprisonment to be transferred in order to serve their remaining sentences in their own countries. This will help sentenced persons to reintegrate themselves more effectively into their own society.
At present, there are 54 Thai sentenced prisoners in Japan, with some 20 Japanese serving their sentences in Thai prisons.
On this occasion, both sides also discussed various issues of cooperation, including cooperation on Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs), infrastructure development as well as ASEAN and regional issues of mutual interest.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th