Today we mark the 29th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Thailand.

However historically ties between our nations existed long before establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992. More than a century ago in 1906 Ukrainian lady – Kateryna Desnytska - married the Thai Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath, son of the King Chulalongkorn. Thus she has become the first - and so far the only - foreigner to ever marry the son of the Siam King. In May 1989 His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, at that time in His Majesty’s capacity as Crown Prince, visited Ukraine.

Throughout 29 years of our diplomatic relations Ukraine and Thailand managed to build solid foundation for further development of bilateral cooperation for the benefit of both countries and peoples.

In 2002 Ukraine opened its Embassy in Bangkok. The official visit of the President of Ukraine to Thailand in 2004 and his meeting with the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej opened the new chapter in the history of our bilateral relations.

Most recently the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine paid the official visit to Thailand in June 2017 that allowed to discuss the priorities in our bilateral agenda in the mid-term perspective.

Two rounds of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Thailand have been held, the latest one in June 2019.

Both sides have been successfully developing the legal basis of bilateral relations. Among the key bilateral documents signed are agreements on establishment of Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, on Cooperation in the area of Defense and the Trade Agreement.

Thailand is the second largest trade partner of Ukraine in ASEAN.

Our countries had become good partners in the area of defense and Ukraine contributed to strengthening of the defensive potential of the Kingdom.

Ukraine has been closely cooperating with Thailand within the United Nations and various multilateral fora.

In the recent years both sides have made important steps to ease travelling between Ukraine and Thailand. The Thai Government abolished visas for Ukrainian tourists and Ukraine on its part introduced e-visas for Thai citizens that can be obtained online in 1 day. In 2019 before the COVID pandemic 100,000 Ukrainian tourists visited the Kingdom.

Ukrainian cultural events have been regularly held in Thailand. Exhibitions of paintings of the world-renowned Ukrainian artists such as Ivan Marchuk, Maria Prymachenko and Oleh Shuplyak provided the Thai people with knowledge and understanding of Ukraine’s culture, art and traditions.

We highly appreciate Thailand’s support of territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

Thailand is among the key partners of Ukraine in the South-East Asia and we are ready to give fresh impetus to further development of bilateral cooperation with Thailand in all areas of mutual interest.

Ukraine looks forward to continue the political dialogue, including on high level; further increase of bilateral trade and investment, in particular holding the first meeting of the Joint Trade Committee and strengthening the dialogue between our private businesses; cooperation in science and technology, among others in the area of space exploration; renewal of cooperation in the area of tourism as the COVID-19 pandemic allows, including welcoming Thai tourists in Ukraine etc.