Australian Minister Pledges Closer Ties With Thailand on Crime

BANGKOK — Australia's Assistant Minister for Immigration and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Matt Thistlethwaite visited Thailand on Wednesday to strengthen bilateral ties, with discussions focusing on education, trade, security and cooperation against transnational crime.

Thistlethwaite said his visit aimed to strengthen relations between Australia and Thailand across economic, security and people-to-people ties.

"This morning, I had the privilege of meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister to discuss educational linkages between Australia, how we're collaborating on research and development, particularly as we face the challenge of climate change and the effect that that will have on food security and on local communities," he said.

Thistlethwaite met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Yodchanan Wongsawat before attending the launch of "Australia on a Plate", promoting Australian food and products at Tops Food Hall at Central Park in Bangkok.

He said his visit would build on the long-standing partnership between Australia and Thailand, following Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's visit to Australia last month.

Thistlethwaite said he would also discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in combating transnational crime and promote trade between the two countries.

"Australia and ASEAN nations are deeply concerned about the scam centres that are being set up in the region," he said.

"They have the potential to cause great damage and harm to citizens of all of our nations."

He said Australia had been working with Southeast Asian countries through its cyber strategy to help combat online scams.

The transnational drug trade was also a major concern for communities in both countries, he said.

On Thursday, Thistlethwaite is scheduled to visit the Thai Tourist Police to see efforts to combat transnational crime. He will also visit an anti-scam centre to highlight the importance of cooperation between Thailand and Australia in tackling online fraud.

"These are the key issues that our governments are working on to try and combat, and to make sure that the citizens of Thailand and Australia aren't fleeced out of their personal savings, aren't put in difficult situations because of online scams and other scams that people have faced in our region," he said.