Earlier this month, H.E. Panich Vikitsreth, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thailand visited Doha to participate in the 9th Doha Forum on Democracy, Development & Free Trade. During the Forum, Vice Minister has called on Qatar economic prominent figures to establish networking in light of a planned visit of Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva on bilateral cooperation and Thai economy stimulus packages.

Among the key areas of cooperation, Medical tourism and Food security topped the list of Qatar's interest as both are the most well known fields of expertise and advantage to Thailand.

Following the economic crisis caused by political unrest in the recent years, Thailand's current PM Abhisit Vejjajiva is using medical tourism, among many other selling points, to target more visitors to revive Thailand's tourism industry. Personal visits and roadshows at various countries around the world have been made constantly to help gain trust among foreign travellers that Thailand is as safe and fun as ever.

According to Tourism Authority of Thailand's announcement for continuing to revive the Thai travel and tourism industry, the Royal Thai government has agreed to exempt the fee for tourist visa applications for a three month period, effective until June 4, 2009.

"The potential for the tourism industry can be expanded even more with special programs focusing on tourism, such as eco-tourism, medical tourism, and sports tourism," recently said the PM in a keynote speech "Restoring Confidence and Moving Thailand Forward in Trade, Investment and Tourism" in Tokyo, Japan.