Arab News, Saturday, May 14, 2022 | Shawwal 13, 1443
Thailand to seek security cooperation with Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Thailand will be
seeking to revive security ties with Saudi Arabia, a top official said on
Friday, as the Thai foreign minister is scheduled to visit Riyadh next week.
Bilateral ties stalled in the 1980s and were
renewed in late January, following Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s visit
to Riyadh, which was the first top leadership meeting between the two countries
in over three decades.
The two governments have since signed cooperation
agreements to promote trade, investment, and labor recruitment, but defense ties
have not been discussed yet.
Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, who is also
Thailand’s deputy prime minister, is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia on May
15-18. His delegation will include representatives from government agencies and
the private sector.
“There has been an ongoing attempt for a
cooperation on security areas as organizations involving security matters of the
two countries have not had a chance to meet in more than 30 years,” Darm
Boontham, director-general of the Department of South Asia, Middle East, and
African Affairs of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News.
“We might be able to see the first step,” he
added, referring to the foreign minister's visit. “There have been discussions
and drafting on the framework on security cooperation, one important area is
military cooperation and exchanging intelligence.”
In a press conference on Thursday evening,
Boontham said Thai officials would discuss a planned visit of Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman to Bangkok, which Thailand hopes will be in the coming
months.
Pramudwinai is expected to meet his Saudi
counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan and the investment, tourism, and energy
ministers.
Since the restoration of diplomatic ties, the two
countries have already restarted people-to-people exchanges.
Saudia, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, resumed
commercial flights between Riyadh and Bangkok in late February. Thai Airways has
announced it will start flying from Bangkok to Jeddah in July.