Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (27)

Dear compatriots,

A sector that we unfortunately can not often report on, because Thailand is not on the relevant list of priority countries of The Hague, is that of culture. That is why we were very pleased that no less than two events in the cultural sector took place in March.

First of all, on March 9, I was invited by Motif, a furniture store on the fourth floor of Central Embassy. The reason for this invitation is that this store has started selling Dutch design modern furniture from five renowned Dutch designers: Artifort, Moooi, Leolux, Linteloo and Ilfari. Sleek, surprising and innovative. From the owners of the store I understood that the Netherlands is one of the leading countries in terms of contemporary furniture, together with Italy. Always nice to hear.

I received a similar announcement on March 25 from Haute Couture Experience, a new Thai fashion company, which is exhibiting a few creations by Iris van Herpen on the second floor of the same Central Embassy for a few weeks. Beautiful designs, very colorful, and here too using innovative techniques. She was one of the first designers to use 3D techniques, which earned her a place in Time magazine's top 2011 most innovative personalities in 50. Opening such events is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job.

Speaking of which, I also had the necessary interaction with the Dutch community. An interesting visit to Phuket, where, after attending a meeting organized by the NTCC with some Dutch entrepreneurs, I had a meeting with the Dutch community there. In a very orange environment, as usual well organized by our Honorary Consul Seven, I spoke with many of the more than one hundred compatriots present, in particular about the dramatic economic situation on that island. But there was also hope that the situation will soon improve. Fortunately, developments since then seem to confirm this.

At the end of the month we finally had a coffee morning at the residence again, which had not been possible for a while due to the Covid situation. A fascinating introduction by a Dutchman who has been working for the World Food Program WFP for a long time. His stories once again made it clear that there are some other problems in the world besides Covid that require urgent attention.
Looking to the future, I plan to visit Khon Kaen with my Benelux colleagues in mid-May. Of course we would also like to meet Dutch people there and possibly offer consular services. I call on Dutch people in that area to let us know if they want to meet us or need consular services ([email protected]).

I also had the great pleasure of meeting two very enterprising Dutch people.

First of all, Erwin de Smit, who over the years has built up an impressive company that exports chilli paste to just about the entire world. Every day, about 10.000 small farmers deliver their chilis to this company, which then turns it into a paste that is brought to the port in huge barrels. A well-oiled company that also fulfills an important social role by employing prisoners from the local prison. Together with the NTCC and Thailand Business (another good example of Dutch cooperation in Thailand), we visited because Erwin's company wants to set up a similar operation in the Deep South of Thailand. More than 40 representatives from this region were also present, and our participation in the visit hopefully allowed us to support this important initiative for this challenging region.

It was also a pleasure to go to Edwin Wiek and his Elephant Refuge for a weekend. It remains an impressive operation, rehabilitating many confiscated or otherwise entrusted wildlife to its center in a relatively pleasant and natural environment. Many of those animals will never be able to survive in the wild again, but at least this way they can still lead a decent existence. I wonder if he will succeed in capturing some of the wild animals that hang above the market in some European countries because circuses are no longer allowed to use them, in his Refuge.

The more official relations between the Netherlands and Thailand also received a boost in March.

First of all, I was allowed to sign an agreement on behalf of the Netherlands between the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water and the Thai Water Institute ONWR. This agreement is intended to promote technical cooperation between the two countries in the field of water, Dutch companies have indicated to us that this government-to-government commitment will facilitate their access to the Thai market.

And on March 17, we organized a conference on climate adaptation. We try to do everything we can to keep a further temperature rise as small as possible, but even if we stop emitting CO2 tomorrow, the earth will warm up even more because of the CO2 that is already in the air. This fact forces us to adapt our countries to the consequences of this: rising sea levels, more extreme storms, more drought. In addition to a speech by Minister of Natural Resources Varawut, a top Dutch civil servant and the representative of the World Bank, experts from both countries discussed agriculture and coastal protection. A useful form of knowledge sharing!

Finally, the C word. Fortunately, we can gradually be more positive about that, sooner or later the vaccinations will have an effect, and the reopening plans for a few tourist destinations in Thailand also offer some economic prospects. And speaking of vaccinations, there is a lot of information circulating on the internet. Everyone is free to discuss this, but from the embassy we would advise everyone to always consult the official website of the central government (https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-vaccinatie ), that is what Dutch government policy is about.