[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Czech Republic President Vaclav Hav



Subject: Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel visit Thailand


BANGKOK (Feb. 11) UPI - Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel arrived in 
Bangkok Friday on a four-day state visit as guest of Thailand's Royal Family. 
   The visit, the first to Thailand by a leader of the year-old Czech Republic,
will include talks on bilateral political and economic cooperation with Thai
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. 
   Havel was welcomed at the Royal Thai Air Force by King Bhumipol Adulyadej and
Crown Princess Maha Chakri Siridhorn, who accompanied the Czech leader and his
wife in a motorcade along flag-festooned streets to the Royal Palace in Bangkok.
   During their stay, Havel and his wife will be guests at the Royal Palace.
Havel is scheduled to receive an honorary degree at Thailand's oldest
University, Chulalongkorn, on Saturday. 
   According to the Thai Foreign Ministry, Thai-Czech trade has been growing
rapidly since the birth of the Czech Republic on Jan. 1, 1993. 
   Thailand exported $21.45 million in mainly textiles and processed foods to
the Czech Republic in the first nine months of last year, while the Czech
Republic exported $118.67 million worth of mainly heavy industrial goods to
Thailand in the same period. 
   On Tuesday, during a state visit to India, Havel received the 1993 Indira
Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, in recognition of his key
role in bringing democracy to the Czech Republic. 
   In 1991 Havel nominated Aung San Suu Kyi from Thailand's neighbor, Burma, for
the Nobel Peace Prize. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest by military
authorities in Rangoon for nearly five years.