The Thai Embassy has reported an increase in trade volume between Qatar and Thailand last year which amounted to $3.17bn with $304m of Thai exports to Qatar.
Thai Ambassador Suvat Chirapant said there was an increase in the volume of trade between Thailand and Qatar last year. Thailand exports motor vehicles (but with Japanese brands) to Qatar, as well as cooling machines like refrigerators and chilling systems, and rice, and it imports petrochemicals and gas from Qatar. The PTT-Qatar Gas initial agreement for one to two million tonnes per year is expected to start its delivery next year.
Chirapant has also reported an increase of visits to Thailand from Qataris and residents here. “There are around 15,000 Qataris and residents who visited Thailand last year... Qatar Airways operates two flights daily inbound and outbound to Bangkok. In summer, it operates three flights,” he said during a press dinner at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Doha yesterday.
Thai musicians perform traditional songs.
The Thai Embassy and Grand Hyatt’s Isaan Restaurant will launch the Thai Festival at Isaan on September 28 to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Qatar and Thailand. The festival will run until October 3.
“We will present the Thai heritage in performing arts, martial arts, culinary arts and exotic fruits during the weeklong festival...,” Chirapant said. He said the Thai festival was planned in response to H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s request for an exchange of culture during the Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya’s visit here last July.
Dancers from Thailand performed Sat Chatri, Fon “Phoo Thai,” and Krabi-Krabong during the media dinner as preview of what to expect during the festival. Sat Chatri, an adaptation of Sat Wai Krue, or a dance playing homage to teachers, is dance mostly performed in the southern region of Thailand. Fon “Phoo Thai” means a dance belonging to the Phu Thai people, a sub-Thai ethnic group of Isan. And Krabi-Krabong, or the battle of long canes and swords, is one of the most ancience schools of Thai martial arts and was practiced by young soldiers during the Siamese wars.
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