The Bhutan-Thailand bilateral relationship has entered its 28th year. Established in 1989, the relationship saw tremendous growth over the years with both countries, particularly Bhutan, benefiting from the various areas of cooperation between the two.
The areas of cooperation include culture, agriculture, economy, telecommunication and research and development. The two countries also have several things in common. Both have monarchy system and their citizens love and revere their monarchs. They share an interesting history in that neither Bhutan nor Thailand was ever colonized. They also share similar culture and religion.
Bhutan’s embassy in Bangkok was first established in 1999. Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji, who is now the Chairman of Privy Council, was the country’s first ambassador to Thailand. He was entrusted with the responsibility of strengthening the relationship between the two kingdoms and with 10 other ASEAN countries.
Lyonpo says, over the years, the cooperation between the two countries have become stronger and exemplary. “There has been an increase in number of fields of cooperation,” said Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji.
“During my time, it was basically agriculture, health and human resource development. And, now they have gone into many others, such as telecommunication and ICT. So, I think there are many more areas added to the cooperation between two kingdoms, which is benefiting Bhutan.”
Meanwhile, the Royal Thai Consulate in Bhutan began its operation in November 2003. The consulate was later renamed as the Royal Thai Honorary Consulate-General.
The Counsel General, Ugen Tshechup Dorji, said mutual admiration and respect for the monarchs forms the cornerstone of the Bhutan-Thailand bilateral relationship. “With regards to people to people relationship, I think we share the best relationship,” said Counsel General.
“The binding factor for this relationship that we have with Thailand is built out of love for our monarchs- Thai people for their monarch and Bhutanese for our monarch. Also, the Thai peoples’ love for our monarch.”
The consulate aims to explore more areas of cooperation in the fields of commerce, economy, culture, tourism and science.
