On 1 July 2019, Miss Sweeya Santipitaks, Consul-General of Thailand in Kolkata, handed over the books entitled “History of Thai Diplomacy” and “Furthering the Bonds of Friendship” (history of past visits overseas of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great of Thailand), published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, to the Sahid Kshudiram Siksha Prangan (Alipore Campus) Library, University of Calcutta. The two aforementioned books were given in addition to the latest collection of 71 books donated earlier in August 2018 in celebration of the 70^th Anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Thailand and India. Professor Dr. Lipi Ghosh, Head of the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, and Mr. Safique Ahamad, Assistant Librarian, were present at the event along with their team members.

               The “Thai Corner” at the University of Calcutta was established in 2007 as part of Thailand’s academic and cultural diplomacy to disseminate knowledge in various areas about Thailand, ranging from Thai grammar books to journals, Thai cookbooks, books about Thai architecture, Thai art, Thai literature, Thai cinemas, as well as His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. The Royal Thai Consulate-General, Kolkata, donated more Books to the Thai Corner in 2008 and 2018 respectively. As of now 386 books are part of the Thai Corner’s collection.

               Those who are interested can search for books about Thailand in the Library’s online catalogue on the website https://www.caluniv.ac.in/opac/ or via the following QR Code. The University of Calcutta is planning to make its library accessible to the general public (apart from its current access granted to academic personnel and students) by the end of 2019.