Alberto Rubio
Thailand’s ambassador, Phantipha Iamsudha Ekarohit, stressed during the virtual reception she hosted on the occasion of National Day and the birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, that her country can be “a preferential partner for Spain in Southeast Asia” in 2022, taking advantage of the fact that it will host the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Hub.
The ambassador pointed out in a video streaming that, over the next year, Thailand will organise “a series of high-level meetings, which will be attended by leaders from all the countries in the region” and which she hopes Spain will join “since we still have a long way to go in terms of its External Action Strategy”.
Phantipha Iamsudha Ekarohit reviewed the figures for the first nine months of 2021 to underline that “it has been a satisfactory year in our bilateral relations”. He gave as an example, the 23.67 percent increase in trade exchanges compared to the previous year, reaching a figure of 1,157 million euros.
She was also pleased that “despite the pandemic, both sides have been able to explore areas of collaboration, especially in public health, such as the agreement on the resale of vaccines from Spain in October of this year”, which was the first of its kind signed by Thailand with a European country.
After recalling that both countries have now celebrated 150 years of bilateral diplomatic relations, “which have been strengthened by the cordial relations between our royal families” with successive visits such as King Chulalongkorn’s loa in 1897, the head of the Thai Mission toasted the “many projects pending to be fulfilled: resuming bilateral visits; holding the 4th political consultation meeting; and cooperation in education, Spanish and Thai language, digitalisation and green economy, among others”.
Finally, she reported that with the advances in vaccination, “Thailand is gradually reopening the country, so that since November quarantine exemption is granted to vaccinated travellers from 63 countries, among which Spain is included”.
