ISLAMABAD - His Excellency Chakkrid Krachaiwong, Ambassador of Thailand in Islamabad, acted wisely by celebrating, the National Day of Thailand falling on 5th December, birthday anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great and Thailand’s Father’s Day all on the same day and invited a very limited number of guests at his residence adjacent to the newly constructed Royal Thai Embassy. As guests arrived at the venue, they were swayed away by the architecture and the décor of the building which was illuminated with colourful lights marking 70 years of Thailand-Pakistan diplomatic relations. Bright colours, rich ornamentation, multi-tiered roofs immediately connected the guest to the magnificent palaces of Thailand. The ambassador, along with his diplomatic colleagues, greeted each and every guest clapping the hands together and saying “sawadee-kah.”
The ambassador in his welcoming speech, took the audience 60 years back when his Royal Highness visited Pakistan and planted a mango tree in Lahore. The current serving King of Thailand too had visited Pakistan three times as in the capacity of Crown Prince and it was the serving king who had laid the foundation of the Thai embassy in Islamabad in 2012 which not only is one of the largest but also the most beautiful Thai embassies located all over the world, he informed. The ambassador said many of his colleagues at the foreign ministry in Bangkok became very envious of him when he informed them on his posting to Islamabad. In his address, he also emphasised the importance of bilateral relations and continuously increasing trade volume between the two countries. It is not the beaches of Thailand or the majestic mountains of Pakistan that have tied this bond of friendship between the two countries but people to people relations played the most important role, said the ambassador very proudly. Due to the religious Buddha sites in Taxila, Pakistan is a second home as many Thai citizens make their pilgrimage round the year. For Pakistanis, beaches of Thailand play an important role as tourist destination. The government of Thailand is also planning a big monument at Taxila very soon and it will be a great addition to the Buddhist site, he said. He ended his speech with the quote of Quaid-a-Azam saying that Muhammad Ali Jinnah once said that with faith, discipline and unity there is nothing worthwhile that cannot be achieved. So let’s follow his example and achieve the unachievable. Chief guest, Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, also narrated interesting stories about his visit to Thailand impromptu and also took support from the pages handed over to him by Foreign Office to read from. Mr. Chaudhry narrated his last visit to Thailand which was in 2015 when he went to the tiger’s hub and took daring pictures with them. On return, he said, I got a dressing down from my mother for being so careless. She was furious for his acting so brave after seeing the photos, he informed the audience laughingly. The minister also emphasised upon the centuries old historical cum religious relationship between the two countries which actually go back to 2500 years of King Ashoka’s time when he wanted to establish Buddha empire in Taksila now known as Taxila. He also showed his pleasant surprise that there are around 5000 Pakistanis living in Thailand and it does not stop here. Thai Pakistanis are playing an important role in politics in Thailand and most of them are Pathans. He informed the guests that six Thai Pathans are members of the Parliament, whereas, two are members of the Thai Senate ruling government. Taking a jibe at Mr. Atif Khan, Senior Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the minister said it is nice to know that Pathans are ruling all over the world. It was a three-hour event but time flied in the blink of an eye it seemed. The host had arranged very short duration documentaries, Mi-Tai performance, dance performance which kept the audience spell bound. A delicious Thai menu was also on display and I was informed by one of the friends that the ambassador’s wife has spent all day in the kitchen supervising the Thai delicacies which included Chicken Satay in appetizers, Tom Yum Soup with Prawn and for main course, Beef Massaman Curry, steamed rice and stir fried mixed vegetables. The dessert was no doubt the show-stopper of the evening. It was called Sago Melon in Fresh Milk and it’s fan club is not only limited to Thailand but reaches as far as Singapore, Taiwan, The Philippines. Sago is made from a starch extracted from the pith of tropical palm trees. Sago pearls on the other hand come from cassava starch. One can use any fruit with them but mango and melon are the most popular ones, informed a Thai diplomat.