On 15 February 2012, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and Mrs. Cornelia Pieper, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, jointly presided over the Reception in Celebration of the 150 Years of Diplomatic Relations between Thailand and Germany. In this connection, both sides held bilateral discussions, the gist of which was briefed to the press by Mr. Thani Thongphakdi, Director-General of the Department of Information and the Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson, as follows:
1. Both discussed their longstanding relations. In this regard, Thailand and Germany established their diplomatic relations on 7 February 1862 with the signing of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation. Presently, Germany is Thailand’s number one trading partner in the European Union, with trade amounting to 9,154 million USD in 2011, an increase of 14.51% from the previous year. In terms of tourism, approximately 600,000 German tourists visit Thailand each year. Around 30,000 Germans reside in Thailand, while there are roughly 55,000 Thais living in Germany. And if one were to include Thais with German ethnicity, the number would amount to around 100,000 people. With such strong foundation in the Thai-German relations, both sides were of the view to increase and expand cooperation to cover new sectors like environmental preservation, technological know-how, healthcare, as well as the exchange of personnels and technologies.
2. On this occasion, Foreign Minister Surapong thanked the German side for its assistance in the form of water strainers, boats and lifebuoy equipments sent to Thailand during the floods. Germany also pledged to assist Thailand with the flood-hit Ratchaburana Temple in Ayutthaya Province with an assistance amount of 100,000 EURO or approximately 4.2 million baht, which the German side would discuss the project in detail with the Department of Fine Arts.
3. Regarding the recent bombing incident in Bangkok on 14 February 2012, Foreign Minister Surapong thanked the German side for not issuing the travel alert. He also took the opportunity to provide details on the progress of the incident, whereby the police had arrested two suspects and is in the process of further investigation to determine the authenticity of their passports and nationalities. It is likely that these explosive devices were intended for assassination of individual or individuals, rather than a large scale attack. In this regard, Foreign Minister Surapong reassured the German side of the prompt actions taken by the Thai authorities, who would also give priority to ensuring the safety of foreigners residing in Thailand.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th