Thailand is preparing to join with the nine other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to pronounce the regional grouping to be free of SARS, according to a report of TV Channel 9 on Friday.

Speaking during a meeting on public health cooperation between Thailand and Malaysia held in the southern resort island of Phuketon Thursday, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said that the declaration would be made during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Phuket at the end of this month.

There have been no reported cases of SARS in the ASEAN region for the past 20 days, which, under World Health Organization (WHO)criteria, allows ASEAN to declare itself to be a SARS-free zone.

Sudarat said that both she and her Malaysian counterpart were aware that tourists were still concerned about the possibility of a SARS outbreak in Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines and Laos despite the fact that none of these countries had reported any SARS cases.

The declaration during the APEC meeting would assure international visitors that they did not have to worry about travelling to the region, she said, adding that the announcement would give a lift to tourism and the economy, both within Thailand and in the region as a whole.