China's achievements and experience in urban infrastructure construction and many other fields have set good examples for Thailand, said Samak.

During his upcoming China tour, the two countries will discuss details about a project of city light-rail mass transit system in Bangkok, known as Skytrain, in which a Chinese company will be engaged.

He will be accompanied by a delegation composed of such high-profile officials as deputy prime minister on commerce and army commander-in-chief.

His talks with Chinese leaders will be aimed at enhancing bilateral trade and cooperation in Thailand's city infrastructure construction and defense technologies.

One of the topics on the agenda is about a cross-border project. Under the project China will give assistance in building highways and railways to link China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand under the Greater Mekong Sub-region cooperation framework.

China will also offer help to Thailand in advancing the latter's ammunition technologies, while a contract worthy of some 10 billion RMB (1.43 billion US dollars) to import machinery products from China is expected to be signed during his visit.

Thailand will also seek to nail more agreements on exporting Thai fresh fruits to China.

The tariff-free measure under the framework of ASEAN-China free trade zone has resulted in a huge drop in prices of Thai fresh fruits like durian on the Chinese market.

The measure also has allowed Thais to enjoy Chinese gingko nuts and apples in recent years.

Further facilitating such trade benefits both sides, he noted.

Samak also thanked China, whose capital Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics, for giving Bangkok an opportunity to run a leg of the Olympic torch relay.

Thailand plans to send some 40 athletes to participate in the forthcoming Beijing Olympics in August, said Samak.

Both Samak and Princess Sirindhorn will attend the opening ceremony of the event scheduled for August 8.

On the Tibet issue, the Thai leader said it "is China's internal affair, and let the Chinese government solve it."

Voicing his belief that China can manage to deal with it, he also said he opposes any move to politicize the Beijing Olympics or to boycott the event.

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2008)