By HE Rooge Thammongkol, Ambassador of Thailand

Almost every day, when I walk down the stairs to the front gate of our Embassy in Bayan, I meet few Kuwaitis who are waiting for the visa application. I shake their hands with my humble introduction.  They retort back with big smiles and say "I usually go Thailand few times, I love your country." These messages carry a lot of weight to my heart.  It was unfortunate that the pandemic caused a lot of pain & stress in the past years.

However, "friendship is not locked down". This year, I am able to see few familiar and new faces at the Embassy.  Things turn back to normal fast, together with frequent flights from Kuwait to Bangkok.   Thailand and Kuwait are enjoying the best of 59 years of Thai-Kuwait relations, ranging from trade & investment, education, energy, agriculture, to health & tourism.

To start with, early this year, we signed the MoU on the exemption of visa for diplomatic and official passport holders, followed by the events to promote soft powers such as mango sticky rice at the Thai restaurant and Muay Thai or Thai boxing at Sabah Salem stadium. The Thai Embassy also received few business delegations such as SCG, the Vega company (the owner of Thai Mart Bahrain and Dubai), and CP Group, they are here for material construction markets, the participation in the international trade fair Kuwait and food distribution chain with potential partners.

In addition, together under ASEAN, we promoted variety of food and products from ASEAN members in Lulu supermarket in August as well as Thai Silk and Cotton in the event ASEAN Textile and Exhibition in Sadu House in September. While, ASEAN Badminton Tournament was organized successfully with participation of young Kuwaiti badminton team and the community. Few months after, they took a trip for Badminton camp in Thailand for 2 weeks. Perhaps, I think we should promote further cooperation in areas of culture & sports.

It is also worst mentioning that the Thai and Kuwaitis are getting to know each other more than in the past owing to a success in our cooperation in medical tourism. During my two years here, many Thai hospitals visited Kuwait to promote cooperation in health.  I am proud that Bangkok is chosen as one of best destinations for medical treatment.   Moreover, the Tourism seminar in October attracted interests from many travel agents here, which was consistent to Kuwait Airway's plan for a daily flight to Thailand, starting in November and early next year a direct flight to Phuket.

Looking ahead, I see only a promising future for Thailand and Kuwait. As my diplomatic tenure here is coming to an end, I would like to say that I have done my best in promoting our friendship, in which I believe will continue to grow and prosper. I also wish to register my gratitude for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kuwait for their support. Also appreciation extended to many friends in the government and business, press, Diplomatic Corps, ASEAN Ambassadors and particularly a Thai community for unwavering support.