On 4 September 2019, Mr. Damrong Kraikruan, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kingdom of Thailand, together with Mr. Juan Camilo Gaviria Betancur, Chargé d´affaires a.i, Embassy of the Republic of Colombia in Bangkok,  co-hosted a Dinner to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of Colombia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. Some 80 key personalities attended the commemorative event, including members of the diplomatic corps from countries that are members of the Forum for East Asia and Latin America (FEALAC), Thai officials from various agencies, and representatives from the private sector, educational institutions and media. Ms. Paweensuda Drouin (Fahsai), Miss Universe Thailand 2019, was also invited as a special guest for the evening.

 

The Deputy Permanent Secretary and Chargé d´affaires a.i, Embassy of the Republic of Colombia, together reaffirmed the cordial relations and expanding scope of cooperation between Thailand and Colombia during the past 40 years which cover wide-ranging areas of political, economic, social and technical cooperation. The Thai side appreciated Colombia’s offer to provide Spanish language training courses to Thai diplomats and government officials during September - November 2019 as part of special activities to commemorate the said occasion.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand also used the occasion to mark the 20th Anniversary of FEALAC this year to raise public awareness about FEALAC. Ms. Paweensuda Drouin, also known as “Fahsai”, was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deliver a short remark on behalf of the Thai people. The beauty queen spoke about the good relations existing between Thailand and the Latin American region and the active role played by Thailand in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

 

Furthermore, the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs showed a video clip of the recent launch of the Discover Latin America (DLA), the first mobile application in Thai about the Latin American region developed by the Ministry to promote knowledge and understanding about FEALAC. The application contains a mine of useful information about the 33 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region in the fields of tourism and travel information, country profile and trade and investment opportunities.