Beijing gets a taste of Thailand at ‘amazing new chapters’ festival
This year’s Thai festival in Beijing was a huge hit, attracting more than 6,000 guests and participants from China, Thailand and other countries.
The Royal Thai Embassy hosted the fest on its grounds on Saturday and Sunday under the theme “Amazing Thailand, Amazing New Chapters”.
“The event aimed to publicise Thailand globally using its 5F soft powers: Food, film, fashion, fighting [Muay Thai] and festival,” the embassy said on Tuesday.
It said visitors had registered for their entry within an hour of opening, adding that the Thai food and souvenir stalls were a huge hit.
Stalls had been set up by local importers as well as businesses under the Thai Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Beijing office and the Office of Commercial Affairs had also set up booths.
Also present at the fest were Kornchid Boonsathitpakdee and Patrick Nattawat Finkler, the two Thai members of the Chinese boyband INTO 1.
“Their presence had the two hashtags, #PaiPaixRTEBeijing and #PatrickThaiFest2023, to start trending on Twitter during the festival period,” the embassy said.
Also trending on the Weibo platform was the hashtag, 中泰一家亲 or China and Thailand are siblings.
The festival could be viewed online via social media channels like Douyin, Kuaishou and JD.com, the embassy said, adding that the link on Kuaishou won more than 150,000 hits.
Thai Ambassador to China Attayut Srisamut delivered a speech welcoming the crowds on Sunday.
With diplomatic ties formally established in 1975, China has been Thailand’s biggest trading partner for 10 consecutive years since 2013. Bilateral trade between the two countries last year came in at about US$135 billion (4.66 trillion baht).
The two countries have also made mutually beneficial pacts under several frameworks such as the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative to name a few.
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