PHNOM PENH -- Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong left here Friday morning for a three-day visit to Thailand to further enhance ties and cooperation between the two neighboring nations.
Namhong, who is also a deputy prime minister, is accompanied by Var Kimhong, senior minister in charge of Border Affairs, and Culture and Fine Arts Minister Phoeurng Sackona, said a foreign ministry's statement.
During the visit, he will hold bilateral talks with his Thai counterpart Gen. Tanasak Patimapragorn and pay a courtesy call on Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-Cha, the statement said.
"While in Thailand, Hor Namhong will also attend the handover ceremony of 16 Cambodian artifacts to Cambodia by Thailand," it said.
The 16 ancient artifacts were among 43 treasures that Thai authorities confiscated from smugglers in 1999, and Thailand returned seven of them to Cambodia in 2009.
According the statement, during the visit, the two countries will also announce the upgrading of a bilateral checkpoint between Cambodia's Preah Vihear province and Thailand's Ubon Rachthani province as an international checkpoint.
