On 2 April 2014, H.E. Mr. Panyarak Poolthup, Ambassador of Thailand to Vietnam paid a courtesy call to H.E. General Tran Dai Quang, Minister of Public Security of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the Ministry of Public Security to introduce himself as a newly appointed Ambassador of Thailand to Vietnam.  

     H.E. General Tran Dai Quang congratulated H.E. Mr. Panyarak Poolthup on his appointment and for the elevation of the bilateral relations to the level of ‘Strategic Partnership’. The Minister praised the close cooperation between both countries in the framework of ASEAN and INTERPOL. The Minister expressed his wishes that the political situation in Thailand will soon return to normal so that the bilateral relations could be further advanced. He also hoped to pay an official visit to Thailand to strengthen the cordial relations in the future. 

H.E. Mr. Panyarak Poolthup, in turn, pledged to fully cooperate with the Vietnamese Government and related authorities to foster Strategic Partnership. The Ambassador expressed his gratitude for the Minister’s best wishes for the political situation in Thailand to soon return to normal, nevertheless, he opined that the economic and people-to-people connectivity between Vietnam and Thailand continue to flourish.      The Ambassador commended the close bilateral cooperation in transnational crime between Vietnam and Thailand in general and between the Ministry of Public Security and the Royal Thai Embassy in particular.  He took the opportunity to thank the Vietnamese authority for taking care of the Thai inmates imprisoned in Vietnam due to drug-related crimes and, because the Thai Government attaches great importance to cooperation in narcotic affairs with Vietnam, the Thai Government has appointed a Minister-Counsellor in charge of narcotic affairs to be attached to the Embassy since the beginning of this year. The Ambassador also reassured that Thailand would do its best as the country coordinator for ASEAN-China relations especially in advancing the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. Regarding the visit to Thailand, the Ambassador stated that the Embassy would be pleased to coordinate with the relevant Thai authorities for the success of the visit of the Minister after the new Thai Government is put in place.