เมื่อวันที่ 14-16 กรกฎาคม 2560 กรมยุโรปได้จัดนิทรรศการเนื่องในโอกาสครบรอบ 120 ปี การเฉลิมฉลองความสัมพันธ์ทางการทูตไทย-รัสเซีย ณ ศูนย์การค้าสยามพารากอน โดยนายดอน ปรมัตถ์วินัย รมว. กต. เป็นประธานกล่าวเปิดงาน ร่วมด้วยนายคีริลล์ บาร์สกี้ ออท. รัสเซีย/ปทท.

        การจัดนิทรรศการฯ มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อส่งเสริมความสัมพันธ์ทางการทูตระหว่างไทย-รัสเซีย และเผยแพร่ความสัมพันธ์ของทั้งสองประเทศในด้านต่าง ๆ ตั้งแต่อดีตจนถึงปัจจุบัน อาทิ การต่างประเทศ การจัดแสดงหนังสือเอกสารจดหมายเหตุของกระทรวงการต่างประเทศรัสเซีย ความร่วมมือด้านเทคโนโลยีทางวิทยาศาสตร์และอวกาศ การส่งเสริมการค้าระหว่างไทย-รัสเซีย และภายในงานมีการแสดงดนตรี การบรรยายเกี่ยวกับประวัติศาสตร์ไทย-รัสเซีย การท่องเที่ยว และความร่วมมือทางด้านการศึกษา รวมทั้งเปิดตัวมาสคอตหมีขาว “มิสเตอร์รุสกี้ ศรีอยุธยา”

        ในงานนิทรรศการตลอดสามวัน ได้รับความสนใจจากประชาชนเป็นจำนวนมาก เนื่องจากมีกิจกรรมที่หลากหลาย และน่าสนใจให้ประชาชนได้เข้าร่วม 

Your Excellency Mr. Kirill Barsky (คีริลล์ บาร์สกี)

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

โด บรึย เดน (Good Afternoon)

            It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the Opening Ceremony of this 3-day event to celebrate 120 years of Thai-Russian diplomatic relations and friendship.

As you know, it was this month 120 years ago when King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V) paid a historic visit to Russia, which marked the beginning of our longstanding diplomatic relations and helped Thailand weather the storm of colonization.

          We all have seen the iconic photograph of King Chulalongkorn and Tsar Nicholas II sitting side by side as equals, which was taken during this visit and published on the cover of the French newspaper L’Illustration, which epitomised the friendship between our two countries and monarchs.

But you may not know that the seeds of royal friendship were sown even earlier when in 1891 the then Tsarevitch Nicholas visited Siam and was granted such a grand and warm reception that left him with a favourable impression of Siam. This led him to warmly welcome King Chulalongkorn to Russia six years later.

This public portrayal of friendship between the two monarchs importantly helped pave the way for other grand receptions accorded to King Chulalongkorn in other European capitals because Siam, as Thailand was known then, was seen as a friend with Russia, a big European power. 

Despite some ideological differences during the Cold War, political relations were maintained with high-level exchanges of visits, particularly from the late 1970s onwards.

With the advent of the Russian Federation, even more significant exchanges of visits took place. President Putin paid a State Visit to Thailand in October 2003, as guest of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the first ever such visit by a Russian head of state, and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, on behalf of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol, paid a State Visit to Russia in July 2007 on the occasion of the 110^th anniversary of our relations.

More recently, we have witnessed a flurry of high-level diplomatic activity. Prime Minister Medvedev visited Thailand in April 2015 and Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha paid a return visit to Russia last May. Furthermore, Foreign Minister Lavrov will soon be visiting us next month.

These are testaments to the fact that both our countries at the highest level are committed to further strengthening our relations in all fields and at all levels.

At the height of imperialism more than 100 years ago, we saw Russia as a friend and today this has not changed. We welcome Russia’s constructive role in global and regional affairs. We believe that Russia likewise sees Thailand as a friend and strategic partner as well as appreciates our constructive role and position in Southeast Asia.

We both stand to benefit from each other’s strengths. Russia’s strong scientific and technological base can well contribute to our goal of becoming Thailand 4.0, notably in the fields of aviation, space, cyber, robotic and military technology. We also welcome Russian investment in Thailand’s key development projects such as the Eastern Economic Corridor.

Thailand, in turn, can be a reliable partner for ensuring Russia’s food security and can share our knowledge in agricultural and food science, as well as in sustainable development through the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy of His Majesty the late King.

I believe that people-to-people relations is the lynchpin to the sustainment of any bilateral relationship. Greater mutual understanding and goodwill towards each other are the very foundations on which friendships are forged and nurtured.

It is therefore heartening that, in the past decade, we have seen rising numbers of Russian tourists visiting us and rising numbers of Thai tourists visiting Russia and Thai students studying there. More and more Thais have become interested to learn about Russia and I believe that the high turnout of Thais visiting this event in these three days will bear witness to this.

 I am convinced that this event, which covers all dimensions of our relations from past to present and even to the future, will greatly contribute to the better understanding and goodwill between our peoples.

I would like to end by thanking all others involved, be they government agencies, the private sector or educational establishments and the Russian Embassy in Bangkok for making this event happen and hopefully a success. I truly believe that all those attending this 3-day event will gain greater understanding of how Thailand and Russia have been “sharing our past, forging our future”.

Thank you and hope you enjoy the evening!

สปา ซี บะ (Thank you)