As I leave Thailand after four years as ambassador, I would like to share some thoughts with you. Despite challenging circumstances, we have carried out our duties with dedication and represented your interests. Thank you for your support and warm welcome. It was an honor to represent Belgium. I wish my successor and all of you the very best.
New Thai ambassador for the Netherlands
Last week, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, His Excellency Mr. Asi Mamanee presents his letters of credence to His Majesty King Willem Alexander, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague.
Visit Dutch ambassador and consular employee to Phuket
On December 7, THEY Ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden, Deputy Ambassador Miriam Otto and Deputy Head of Consular Department Niels Unkel will visit Phuket. The following activities will take place at the NH Hotel in the Boat Lagoon.
Agreement on a tax treaty may take some time
It may take quite some time before a new tax treaty between the Netherlands and Thailand comes into effect. “Not until Thailand agrees at all levels. We don't know how or what at the moment.” Ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden stated this at a 'meet&greet' with Dutch people in Hua Hin and the surrounding area. More than a hundred compatriots and their partners attended the meeting.
On Thursday, November 2, the Dutch Hua Hin & Cha-am Association will organize the following activities in Hua Hin in collaboration with the Dutch embassy. All Dutch people and their partners are welcome. You do not have to be a member of the NVTHC.
Almost a year later, a Dutch consul returned to the Siamese capital. By Royal Decree of March 18, 1888, no. 8, Mr. JCT Reelfs was appointed consul of Bangkok with effect from April 15 of that year. Reelfs, who had previously worked in Suriname, turned out to be no keeper, however. Barely a year later, on April 29, 1889, he was dismissed by Royal Decree.
The Dutch consular services in Bangkok (1860-1942) – part 1.
Due to the simple fact that a Dutch embassy was not formally opened in Bangkok until after the Second World War, the consular services formed the main diplomatic representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Siam and later Thailand for more than eighty years. I would like to reflect on the not always flawless history of this diplomatic institution in the Land of Smiles and the, at times, quite colorful Dutch consuls in Bangkok.
The Dutch ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden would like to meet the Dutch community in and around Pattaya on Thursday, August 25, 2022.
Thailand: an emerging 'middle power' in Asia
As a child, Remco van Wijngaarden wanted to become a diplomat. He has been the Dutch ambassador to Thailand for a year now. A wonderful country to live with his husband and children. “We are an ordinary family here. And Thailand is very interesting to work in, the country is gaining political and economic importance in the region.'
Looking back on Coffee Morning NVT and meeting the new ambassador
A nice turnout of around 30 interested people who were present at the residence last Tuesday to meet the new residents: ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden with his husband Carter Duong and their three children Ella, Lily and Cooper.
Ambassador gets acquainted with Dutch organizations
On 1 November, ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden met a number of Dutch organizations in Thailand. Discussions took place with the Dutch Association of Thailand, the Dutch Thai Chamber of Commerce NTCC, the Thailand Business Foundation and the Dutch School about their activities and how the cooperation can be further strengthened.
In the third week of his new position, our ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden (55) has made time to meet the readers of Thailandblog.
Last blog of ambassador Kees Rade (31)
By the time you read this I will have already left Bangkok. After three and a half years, our placement here has come to an end, where I had the honor and pleasure of representing the Netherlands in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (30)
Departure is approaching. As mentioned earlier, I will leave this beautiful country at the end of July and start my next, hopefully very long placement in the Netherlands: my retirement. Until then there is still plenty to do.
Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (29)
Unfortunately, still Covid that continues to dominate the news in Thailand. While there is finally good news in the Netherlands, and more generally in Europe, developments in Thailand are still not going in the right direction, although the number of daily infections and fatalities is more or less stable.
Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (28)
I ended my previous blog on an optimistic note; the Covid epidemic had now entered its final phase, the vaccinations should really have an impact soon. A month later I unfortunately have to admit that I was a bit too positive. Many of you, like me, are in a de facto lockdown.
Siamese government delegation visits Louis XIV in 1686
From October 22, 2017 to February 25, 2018, an exhibition was held at the Palace of Versailles called “Visitors to Versailles”. It was a fictional account of three visits to the Palace of Versailles, based on historical facts, giving the visitor an opportunity to see and read impressions of travelers or ambassadors and follow in their footsteps around the palace as it was in the 17th and 18th century.
Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (27)
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.
Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (26)
To start on a positive note, one new Covid-19 infection was reported in Bangkok yesterday. That certainly doesn't mean that more cases wouldn't have been discovered with active testing, but it's a promising figure that hopefully means a turn for the better in the Thai situation.
Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (25)
After all the gloomy messages in previous blogs about the Covid-19 crisis, I would have liked to start this blog about the first month of the new year with a positive story about the pandemic, in the sense that we are really on our way back, the worst is past and so on. Unfortunately, we have to leave this kind of positive noise in the fridge for a while.
Interview RTL news with new ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden
RTL news has interviewed the new ambassador for Thailand, Remco van Wijngaarden. A nice story to read. Remco talks about his special family life and the surprised looks when he walks down the street with his family.
New Year's blog ambassador Kees Rade in Bangkok
First of all, of course, on behalf of the entire embassy team, I would like to offer you all our very best wishes for this new year! Much has already been said about the hopefully atypical year 2020, which will not go down in the history books as a pinnacle of well-being and prosperity.