General Prem TinsulanondaPrime Minister, Your Excellencies, ladies and Gentlemen:
First, may I thank you, Prime Minister, for your very warm and friendly welcome and your generous speech and for this magnificent banquet this evening.
All our previous meetings have been in London, in 1982, 1985 and 1987, so I am particularly pleased to be meeting you in your own country at last or, as you put it, “just in time” .
This is not just my first visit to Thailand; I believe it is the first ever by a British Prime Minister and you have confirmed that this evening. That is strange when you think how long we have been friends. It was over 350 years ago—in 1612—that King James I of England sent a message to King Songtam on board the vessel “The Globe” . It is indeed astonishing to think of the great voyages made at that time by small ships setting out from Europe to make contact with peoples half a world away.
Prime Minister, we in Britain recognise in Thailand a country with a very distinguished history. At the time of the Sukhothai Kingdom, more than 700 years ago, you were already a rich and prosperous state and as the famous Ramkhamhaeng inscription shows—one which even then taxed its citizens albeit it modestly—that is a tradition which you and I, Prime Minister, both strive to follow today.
Both our countries are constitutional monarchies and it is a matter of great pride to us both that the links between our royal families are so close. The recent visit of Their Royal Highnesses Prince Charlesthe Prince and Princess DianaPrincess of Wales attracted enormous attention in Britain and may I say it was a privilege to have been received in audience by Their Majesties the King Bhumibol AduljadejKing and Queen this afternoon. We congratulate His Majesty on becoming the longest-reigning monarch in Thailand's history—a great tribute to his tireless and devoted work on behalf of his people, which has been confirmed yet again by the choice of His Majesty's rural projects for the 1988 Magsaysay Award.
I should also like to pay tribute to another of Thailand's contributions which has been of great importance in recent years and that is your outstanding record of hospitality and care for refugees from many other countries in South-East Asia. The burden and strain on your own resources has been enormous and your generosity boundless. That was particularly brought home to me on my visit to the Site B refugee camp yesterday when I was able to see the care being given to people who had been ruthlessly expelled from their homes and I am glad that Britain too has been able to play a part in providing that care, but it is to your country that the greatest thanks are due.
Prime Minister, even as short a visit as mine is enough to see what a success you have made of Thailand's economy. Yours is one of the fastest-growing countries in a region remarkable for its growth and enterprise. I understand that manufactured goods have now overtaken agricultural [end p1] produce as your main export earner. Britain would like to be a part of your success and join in greater cooperation. We are now the fourth largest investor in Thailand and I hope we shall do better still in future. But our links go wider than that.
The cooperation in the defence field is increasing rapidly. A British infantry company recently trained in Thailand and we are very pleased that some of your younger officers are attending military courses in Britain. One of our ships will be visiting Bangkok at the end of the month. This cooperation is one very important way in which we can demonstrate that Britain and Thailand are firm in their resolve to defend liberty and resist the encroachment of communism. I hope that cooperation will continue and strengthen.
Then again, there is the growing exchange of people between our two countries. Over 175,000 British people came to Thailand last year and in Britain, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani opened a Festival of Thailand which was a great success. We very much welcome the young people from Thailand who are studying with us.
And last, but almost the most important, Britain has joined you in pressing for the withdrawal of Vietnam from its unjust occupation of Cambodia. I know how bravely and forthrightly you spoke up on this in your own meeting, Prime Minister, with Mr. Gorbachev, and we applaud you for it. I too, had raised it during my visit in March last year and I believe that at last we are beginning to see results in the declared readiness of Vietnam to withdraw its forces. When we recall the terrible atrocities inflicted on the hapless people of Cambodia between 1975 and 1978, we must make sure that nothing like the Pol Pot Government ever takes power in Cambodia again. If peace comes to Cambodia—a peace for which its people yearn and which they deserve after such appalling suffering—it will reflect very great credit on Thailand and your personal efforts, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister, may I thank you for your hospitality. I was bitterly disappointed when I was unable to include Thailand on my visit to South East Asia in 1985. Now I have remedied that and I hope my visit will be the prelude to even better relations between our countries. I return home with a determination to see Britain and Thailand draw closer together.
I have been very touched by the spontaneous welcome and kindness which has been shown me everywhere I have been and I leave with a deep impression of the achievements of your country and its important role in the region. It must be a great source of satisfaction to you, Sir, to hand over the country to your Chatichai Choonhavansuccessor with the economy in such good order, with such excellent prospects for the future and with Thailand so greatly respected by the nations of the world.
We wish your successor well and are sure that Thailand will make further progress under the new Administration.
Prime Minister, we salute you for your very great achievements, so may I ask you, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, to join with me in giving a toast and a salute to Prime Minister General Prem (toast) [end p2]
Prime Minister Prem
Thank you very much, Prime Minister. (applause)