Yesterday's meeting between Ubon Ratchathani officials and their Lao counterparts at Ubon's Wang Tao crossing point was prompted by extensive peaceful protests by Thai and Lao vendors, who said the fee and registration turned away tourists.

The vendors proposed abolishing the fee, ending mandatory registration for those not travelling beyond a 200-metre "leniency zone" and cutting paperwork to minimal personal identification and travel documents.

The new regulations, which took effect on March 15, require two types of border passes and passports for different types of travellers and various periods of stay to and from Thailand and Laos.

Deputy provincial governor Senee Jitkasem said Lao authorities overseeing the Wang Tao traffic had agreed with Ubon Ratchathani authorities' decision to abolish the regulations, pending official approval from the Lao government.

The number of people using the border crossing has dropped by around 80 per cent since the regulations took effect. There are frequent reports about large groups of Thai tourists who travelled a long distance being denied entry into Laos simply because they did not bring travel documents required by the regulations.

Lao tourists have hardly entered Thailand since March 15 as they consider the Bt300 fee for a basic border pass to be too expensive.