Welcoming Remarks on the Occasion of the 70th Anniversary of Accession to the Throne of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Welcoming Remarks on the Occasion of the 70th Anniversary of Accession to the Throne of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej
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H.E. Mr. Pascal Broulis, Head of the Department of Finance and External Relations of Canton of Vaud;
H.E. Mr. Grégoire Junod, Mayor of Lausanne;
H.E. Mr. Tej Bunnag, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs;
Excellencies;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
First of all, I would like to thank you all for coming to this special event in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Accession to the Throne, held in the beautiful city of Lausanne.
History of friendship and close ties between Thailand and Switzerland go back a long way. We officially established our diplomatic relations 85 years ago. And Switzerland, particularly the City of Lausanne, has always been a special place for Thai people as the place where His Majesty the King had lived for more than 18 years. I should also mention that Palais de Rumine was the very location of University of Lausanne when His Majesty studied here decades ago.
As this year marks the 70th Anniversary of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne, today we would like to honour and celebrate His Majesty’s many achievements and tireless work for the people, especially his sustainable development projects, which were believed to be, in some ways or others, influenced by spending his formative years in Switzerland.
Today we are honoured to have with us H.E. Mr. Tej Bunnag, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand to share his experience on the works of His Majesty over 70 years on the throne and how His Majesty’s works have contributed to the people of Thailand and the world.
Later on, the Royal Thai Embassy will present a book collection on His Majesty the King and Thailand for the libraries of Vaud Canton and University of Lausanne for the Swiss people, especially the young generation and students here, can get to know His Majesty and Thailand better.
In addition, our friends at Nestle and Omega will render their kind support in providing scholarships to Thai students for training and further studies in Switzerland to celebrate this special occasion. We hope that this will also help bring the peoples of our two countries closer together.
Before we continue with our substantive program further, I would like to note that His Majesty is also a renowned jazz musician and song writer. Today, I hope you all will enjoy His Majesty’s music, performed by Mrs. Thanamas Chalermon, our renowned classical guitarist, right after this.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the generous support of the Canton of Vaud and the City of Lausanne, particularly Mr. Vincent Grandjean, Vaud Canton State Chancellor, who has greatly helped us with the organization of this event.
Thank you very much.
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