Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand arrived at Wat Traimit in Bangkok's Chinatown on January 25. The Confucius Classroom at Traimit Witthayalai High School located in Wat Traimit helped hold a grand welcome ceremony.
On the first floor of the main hall of Wat Traimit, Song Ruoyun, First Secretary of Education Office of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, together with heads and teacher representatives from more than 10 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Thailand and representatives of head teachers of the Confucius Institute Headquarters Representative Office in Thailand, attended the audience with Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. These organizations presented gifts with Chinese cultural characteristics to the princess. Then she talked with Chinese teachers and sent them best wishes for the Chinese New Year in a warm atmosphere. Thousands of Thai representatives from all walks of life took part in the welcome ceremony.
Presenting gifts for the Chinese New Year
Later, her royal highness arrived at Yaowarat Road in Chinatown to start the celebration for lunar New Year of Rat in Bangkok’s Chinatown. With the festival atmosphere, tens of thousands of people were immersed in the sea of joy on Yaowarat Road.
The Cooperation Achievement Exhibition for China-Thailand Educational Exchange - Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chinese Art Approaches Thailand jointly organized by the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, the Confucius Classroom at Traimit Witthayalai High School, the Maritime Silk Road Confucius Institute and the Maritime Silk Road Confucius Institute at Phranakhon Rajabhat University was held at the “Happy Spring Festival” event in Bangkok's Chinatown. The exhibition displayed the achievements on Chinese language education and promotion of Chinese culture of the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic ties, attracting thousands of tourists.
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at the Exhibition
Accompanied with Prayuth Chan-ocha, Prime Minister of Thailand, Pipat, Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, Yang Xin, Chargé D'affaires ad Interim of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand and Chang Yumeng, Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn toured Chinatown and visit the exhibition stand. She stood in front of the panel with great interest and carefully read the achievements on educational exchanges and cooperation between China and Thailand. Song Ruoyun introduced key achievements to the princess, especially the outstanding achievements on bilateral cooperation in the field of vocational education. Among them, the first Gem King’s Cup Vocational Education Contest of “Chinese + Vocational Skills” held at Chitralada Technology College in 2019 and the project of China-Thailand High-Speed Rail Education Cooperation have attracted great attention from Sirindhorn.
Song Ruoyun introducing the exhibition to Sirindhorn
Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Thailand have been working together for 45 years. In the past 45 years, bilateral exchanges and cooperation in politics, economy, education, culture and other fields have become increasingly broader and deeper, especially in the fruitful educational exchanges. The exhibition had 16 parts, which introduced the general situation of Chinese education, the establishment of education exchange mechanism and the signing of cooperation agreements, outstanding achievements on vocational education development, cooperation between Chinese and Thai universities, development of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Thailand. The exhibition illustrated the status quo of the development of education cooperation and exchange between the two countries and described the glory days of the China-Thailand education cause.
At the exhibition
People at the celebration also showed great interest in and visited the exhibition. Through this exhibition, local people not only had a better understanding of the current situation of China's education development, but also had a deeper comprehension of the achievements on education cooperation and exchanges between China and Thailand in recent years. In particular, they have shown great interest in the development of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, the remarkable achievements of China-Thailand educational exchanges.
The two-day exhibition is not only a microcosm of the further development of China-Thailand comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, but also a reflection of the close cultural ties, people-to-people bond and “Jeen Thai Phee Nong Gan” (China and Thailand are brothers) between the two countries. (cited from Confucius Institute Headquarters, source: Confucius Classroom at Traimit Witthayalai High School, Thailand)
