Direct flights between Vietnam and the northeastern provinces of Udon Thani and Nakhon Phanom were proposed during Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s visit to Hanoi.
These routes align with growing tourism and business ties, especially since Udon Thani is home to the Vietnamese community. The proposal was raised by Vietjet Air during discussions between Paetongtarn and key Vietnamese firms, including SOVICO.
The Thai premier was on the second of her two-day official visit to Vietnam.
She also met with FPT Corporation, Vietnam’s tech and AI leader, which already collaborates with Khon Kaen University.
Talks focused on opportunities to invest in future industries, such as semiconductors and data centres. Thailand is looking to support human capital development and academic-industry partnerships to accelerate these developments.
On Friday, Vietnam and Thailand announced that they have upgraded their ties to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, Vietnamese state media reported.
The announcement was made after the Thai premier met her Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh.
Thailand is Vietnam’s largest trading partner among ASEAN members, with bilateral trade exceeding US$20 billion last year, the Vietnamese government said on Friday. Thai firms have so far invested more than US$14 billion in Vietnam.
Chinh and Paetongtarn witnessed the signing of several cooperation documents on Friday, including memoranda of understanding on trade, narcotics control, banking, education and aviation, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.
