Let the land of Smile embrace the land of Buddha and the Everest

-H.E. Penchome Incharoensak, Royal Thai Ambassador, Nepal

Siam is the original name with which my country was known until the first half of the last century and it was in effect got a change to "Prathet Thai" or Thailand. Thai means "Free" and thus the word Thailand mean the "land of the free". We are also called as a country of "smiles".

My country is also a constitutional monarchy wherein the monarch is the Head of State.

The present Thai King, His majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended to the throne in 1946 and since then we the Thai people have fortunately been receiving his perennial blessings.

Our monarch is a versatile personality. He is the real combination of several disciplines in one.

He is a scientist; he is a composer; he is an architect; he is a writer of the first order; he is a poet par excellence ( Candle Light Blues, for example) ; he is a musician in his own right; he is a trumpeter too; an expert on Rural development and on top of that he is a humorist too.

A rare amalgamation of so many qualities in one.

Our King is concerned to the people and their sufferings and been thinking every time to launch projects that suit to the people's needs and that too the immediate ones. Thousands of such projects are currently under his surveillance and guidance that have been working in the country with full swing. He meets the people and interacts with them so that he can initiate projects that they need; he meets the leaders and instructs them so that the nation benefited; he meets the academicians in order to elevate the academic level of the country; he is meeting with the men practicing different religions and thus he is unconditionally revered among his subjects. Not a single house could be found in my country wherein the picture of the King and the Queen are not hung on the walls. Likewise, the Queen and the other members of the Thai Royalty also keep themselves engaged in the service of the people. Their service to the nation is not a one-time business but an all time one.

"I will rule the country with righteousness for the benefits and happiness of the Siamese people", is what the King had declared during his Coronation as back as in 1946.

That our monarch is a great littérateur gets reflected from the very fact that he in the recent years His Majesty wrote one book that is related with King Maha Janaka of your country-Nepal. The book, originally in Thai language, made each and every Thai people to know about King Janaka and Nepal and more so of the Mithila area which is, I am told, lies in the proximity of Janakpur Dham in Dhanusha district of Nepal.

Fortunately, the Nepali population too could enjoy HM's writings on Maha Janaka in Nepali language which presumably has contributed tremendously in enhancing Thai-Nepal cultural ties. This is indeed a splendid contribution from Thai side to popularize Nepal in my country. Through the publication of this book, now one more tourist destination has been added for the visiting Thai tourists. Apart from Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lumbini, it is Janakpur-the land of Maha janaka now for the Thai people to visit.

Lumbini is a word that is in the minds and the hearts of each and every Thai people. Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, is a religious place which each and every Thai people would wish to make a pilgrimage in their lifetime. Though we don't have any official data on the numbers of Thai people visiting Nepal, but what is for sure is that as and when they come Nepal, they come in a group of no less than twenty people and the number is increasing every year. Even the high level bureaucrats who make an official trip to Nepal now visit Janakpur apart from Lumbini.

Now talking to your country's situation, well I must not speak much on that topic as my diplomatic duties do not allow me to make any comments on those. However, as a friend of Nepal, what I consider appropriate to tell you that if disruptions of any sorts were not here, your country has the potential to go up and up. Every thing will be good because you have very good understanding with most of the countries of the globe and they all regard you and ready to help.

As regards expansion of bilateral trade and commerce and investment, very recently, to be more specific March 4-9/2004, a high level delegation of FNCCI, NCC and President of Nepal-Thai Chambers of commerce and industries were in Thailand. I was also in the team. The Nepali delegation held a number of meetings in Bangkok with their counterparts. We have agreed at the very official and the private level to enhance private sector business and have also decided to have greater collaboration among the private sector in order to increase the trade volume in between the two countries. The positive impact of this visit will be seen soon, I hope.

Thailand has an open sky policy. We invite flights to Thailand and we promote others to make flights abroad. I think, two airlines are likely to operate in Bangkok-Kathmandu sector in the coming months. Hopefully, we will have ten regular flights to Kathmandu each week. This will certainly boost your tourism industry.

Nepal is becoming more and more popular in Bangkok and the BIMST-EC, a conglomerate of countries like, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand-Economic cooperation, which has recently awarded membership to Nepal and Bhutan in the organization. This means that your country will have now the access to the ASEAN. Your Ambassador at Large had attended the meeting in Phuket which granted Nepal its membership.

I have been trying very hard to enhance Nepal-Thai ties in various disciplines, trade and commerce included.

The BIMST-EC is going to have a huge gathering in Bangkok by the end of July, next month. The BIMST-EC has its secretariat housed in out ministry of foreign affairs. We have several focal points located in different capitals of the member countries. Luckily, Nepal has been declared the focal point on Economic matters and the FNCCI has been entrusted to take up the issues so that it could assist Nepal while dealing with economic matters at the meeting of the BIMST-EC.

Bangkok is the venue for an International HIV/AIDS Conference of the Asia-Pacific countries in July second week. Ministers of these countries will attend the meeting together with some HIV affected patients as well.

If you recall, Thai officials had come to Kathmandu to attend Joint Economic Commission meeting here in January this year. We have had very fruitful discussions and some MoU were signed on the occasion.

Finally, I see good scope for the expansion of our bilateral ties. We could do a lot provided we both are sincere in our efforts. Let the land of smile embrace the land of the birthplace of Lord Buddha and of the Everest. Thai people possess sentimental attachment for Nepal for varied reasons. We have one road called CAWSAN in Bangkok, which should resemble your Thamel. Plenty of Nepali ornaments, jewels and handicrafts could be seen sold there. A small Nepali population is there doing business. So do we have some Thai people doing Restaurant business in Kathmandu. Our ties are getting more and more matured by every passing days. Never forget that it was Thai International that perhaps landed in Kathmandu in the end of the 60s or early 70s and since then you have been flooded with tourists both from Thailand and abroad.

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