KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA and Thailand will sign a prison transfer agreement in January which will allow convicts to complete jail term in their own country, a report said on Monday.

Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya was expected to visit Malaysia in the middle of January, adding that the transfer programme would cover those on death row or serving long prison sentences.

Mr Rais was cited by the Star newspaper as saying the transfer programme would help ease congestion in Malaysian jails and cut costs. There are an estimated 2,000 foreign prisoners including Thais being held in local prisons.

The Star said about 402 Malaysians serving prison terms in Thailand had appealed to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in October for a transfer treaty with Thailand.

Among them was 29-year-old Dennis Ooi, who is being held at the Bang Kwang Central Prison in Thailand - popularly known as 'Bangkok Hilton' - for a drug offence in 2003.

Ooi, who is serving a 50-year jail sentence, wants to complete his jail term in Malaysia and described life in the Thai prison as 'too harsh.' -- AFP