Message from the Ambassador

Message from the Ambassador

วันที่นำเข้าข้อมูล 12 ธ.ค. 2563

วันที่ปรับปรุงข้อมูล 30 พ.ย. 2565

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Message from Ambassador Eksiri Pintaruchi

(December 2020)

 

Welcome to the website of the Royal Thai Embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The Kingdoms of Thailand and the Netherlands has an enduring historical bond of over 416 years of diplomatic relations.  The Dutch has shown its consistent ingenuity in its entrepreneurial spirit as the relation was founded on the Dutch trade in Asia, through Siam’s Capital City of Ayutthaya.

Both Kingdoms enjoy strong relations at every level, particularly our close and cordial relations between the two Royal Families. At people to people level, pre-COVID era, Thailand has been one of the favourites destination for the Dutch travellors.

Both countries share various similarities. In term of geography, Thailand and the Netherlands are both maritime and mainland nations. Therefore, both have strategic location and placed importance in regional connectivity. During COVID-19 era, we are grateful to the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in maintaining its regular passenger and cargo flights offering essential transportation of people and goods between Europe and Asia.

Netherlands has been the top EU foreign direct investor in Thailand. The Royal Thai Government is determined promote this mutual economic benefit for both of our countries. I am confident that this economic tie will continue as both countries placed importance in innovation based development. For Thailand, we have Thailand 4.0 Policy, which is in sync with the Dutch’s Topsector Policy. The Dutch’s ingenuity in science, technology and innovation is also world renowned. I am pleased and grateful to see that many cooperation frameworks have been undertaken, particularly in water resource management, agricultural and food innovation.

The Netherlands stands as the country with academic excellence whereby we have seen an increase in numbers of Thai students with the Royal Thai Government scholarships, enrol in universities in the Netherlands, in subjects that are beneficial to the development of Thailand such as water resource management, agriculture, and science and technology.  

Both countries are also key players in regionalism and multilateralism diplomacy, and have consistently instill progressive values at the UN. I am pleased to see that both countries have fostered collaboration in areas of mutual strengths such as gender equality and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation.  As host to the UN regional offices in Bangkok, Thailand promotes multilateralism values, particularly the interlinkage between the three pillars of peace and security, development and human rights.  We commend the role of the Netherlands in being a bastion in promoting peace and justice at the UN. Thailand is also pleased to see the Netherlands’ active role in fostering ASEAN-EU relations. The recently adopted ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership is a milestone of what two regional organisations and economic powerhouses can do to promote international security, prosperity, and sustainability based on shared values of mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual benefit.

As The Hague is the City of Peace and Justice and, like Bangkok, also host many important international organisations. As such another important duty of the Royal Thai Embassy in The Hague, is to foster cooperation with these organisations, particularly Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), Hague Conference on Private International Law  (HCCH) and the Hague Academy of International Law. Such collaboration includes capacity building programmes, which Thai nationals from various sectors can take part in.   

As Ambassador of Thailand, people-centred and inclusive diplomacy is at the heart of my duty. Protecting the interests of Thai nationals in the Netherlands has been my top priority. I am proud to say that during COVID-19, the Royal Thai Embassy, The Hague played a key role in arranging regular flights for Thai nationals to return to their homeland.

Lastly, through vaccine plans as laid out by the Royal Thai Government and the Government of the Netherlands, Thailand is confident that our people to people relation will remain strong. As we see the light at the end of the tunnel, we hope to welcome as many Dutch tourists as before so they can enjoy Thailand’s beautiful scenic and gastro delight where international tourists trust our health security as reflected in our success in combating COVID-19. 

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