Thailand and France yesterday signed a historic document which will see the two countries working together to develop tourism, with four joint committees established between the two countries.

The deal was signed during talks between Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and French Tourism Minister Leon Betrand.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU), four joint tourism committees will be established: on the development of marine tourism, the development of human resources for the tourism industry, the development of hotels and cultural development.The committees are aimed at applying tourism development approaches already used in France to Thailand.

One of the aims will be to boost the number of French visitors to Thailand, which currently stands at around 250,000 per year, bringing over Bt50 billion in revenue.

Within five years, the government hopes to see the number of French tourists double, with tourist spending averaging Bt25,000 per day.

The two countries also discussed the possibility of a mutual `open sky` policy in order to attract more tourists.