On 18 November 2023, H.E. Mr. Worawoot Pongprapapant, Director-General of the Department of South Asian, Middle East, and African Affairs, paid a courtesy call to H.E. Mr. Jassim Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on the sidelines of IISS Manama Dialogue: 19th Regional Security Dialogue in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

During the discussion, the two sides expressed their satisfaction with the first ASEAN-GCC Summit held in October 2023, which was the first summit between the leaders of two regional frameworks, paving ways to further expand cooperation in various fields between the two sides.

On this occasion, both sides discussed ways and means to promote cooperation between Thailand and GCC countries through the initiation of reviewing a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the GCC Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, as well as Thailand - GCC Free Trade Agreement in order to fully utilize and advance the economic potential between the two sides. In addition, both sides exchanged views on international security issues, especially the unrest situation in Israel - Gaza Strip. The Secretary-General of the GCC expressed his sympathy for the Thai nationals being held hostages from the conflict and agreed that the Thai side's approach in coordinating with friendly countries who have influences with all relevant parties would facilitate the situation to be resolved soon.