Bangkok: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on October 11 said that India-Thailand ties have entered a new chapter with the signing of the Landmark Free Trade Agreement, which will see tariffs slashed to zero by 2010.

Thaksin, in his weekly radio address, said Thailand had for a long time tried to negotiate for more seats (aviation deal) to India, but was not successful.

"Thailand has spent 15 years trying to negotiate to increase 3,000 seats per month flying from Thailand and India but they failed. Now India has opened up four cities for daily flights and 18 other cities on top of that with no limits," Thaksin said.

During Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit the two countries signed an "open skies" policy. Thailand has also reciprocated by allowing Indian carriers to fly to the northern city of Chiang Mai and the southern resort island of Phuket.

Vajpayee leaves for India on October 12 after a highly successful visit to Thailand and Bali where he attended the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Summit.

PTI