Thailand will work with Malaysia to bring economic progress to three Thai provinces and end a deadly insurgency in the south, Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said today.

He was speaking as he arrived amid tight security in the northern Malaysian resort island of Penang ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi later Wednesday.

"I came here to strengthen Malaysia and Thailand relations," Surayud told the crowd as he visited a centuries-old Buddhist temple here.

"We want to have social and economic cooperation. We have to help each other solve the problem in the south."

On Tuesday, Surayud and Abdullah oversaw the signing of an agreement for Malaysia to provide scholarships for students and training for teachers in the mainly Muslim southern Thai provinces, where more than 2,300 people have been killed in renewed violence since 2004.

The agreement will establish links between educational institutions in the two countries. About 100 Thai teachers are expected to be sent to Malaysia at the end of the month for training, officials said.

Officials said Surayud and Abdullah had had a "very productive" meeting on Tuesday, and both are expected to talk about boosting economic development in Thailand and ending the insurgency when they meet later Wednesday.

"The southern problem will take time to return to normalcy," said Tongthong Chandransu, deputy permanent secretary of Thailand's justice ministry.

"We need Malaysia's assistance to address this problem in the south. Close cooperation will benefit both of us."

He said a weekend referendum in Thailand, when the public voted for a new army-backed constitution, was a "good start for the elections" slated for the end of the year.