KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has agreed to a treaty with Thailand to allow foreigners convicted of serious crimes to serve part of their prison sentences at home.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he will sign the agreement "soon".
It will be the first such treaty signed by Malaysia, said a report in the New Straits Times newspaper.
The programme was approved by parliament in November of last year and will be gazetted next month.
"A delegation from Malaysia visited Thailand to view the transfer implementation mechanism," said the minister, who was on a visit to Kajang Prison to oversee a family visiting day for the Chinese New Year.
There are 404 Malaysian prisoners in Thai jails, he said, and 82 Thais on serious charges in Malaysian prisons.
He did not give the details of the planned treaty with Thailand. Usually, foreign prisoners must serve the first several years of their sentence in Thailand before they are eligible to serve out the remainder in their home countries.