PUBLISHED ONSeptember 04, 2024 3:19 AMBySean LerPrime Minister Lawrence Wong has congratulated Paetongtarn Shinawatra on her appointment as the 31st prime minister of Thailand.
Shinawatra, 38, was sworn in as prime minister of Thailand on Aug 18 following the removal of her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, by the Constitutional Court of Thailand for breaching ethical rules in Cabinet appointment.
She is presently the youngest prime minister in Thailand and only the second woman to hold the position, following her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra who was prime minister from 2011 to 2014.
Yingluck is also the sister of Thaksin Shinawatra who served as prime minister from 2001 to 2006, when he was deposed in a military coup.
Shinawatra is the youngest daughter of Thaksin.
The prime ministers of Singapore and Thailand called each other on Sept 3 (Tuesday).
In a Facebook post later that evening, PM Wong said that 2025 will be the 60th anniversary of Singapore-Thailand relations and that he is looking forward to working closely with Shinawatra to further deepen bilateral relationship, and expanding cooperation into new areas.
“Our countries share a close and longstanding relationship, with strong defence, economic, and people-to-people ties”, said Wong in his post.
Echoing her counterpart, Shinawatra said in a separate Facebook post that she intends to strengthen Singapore-Thailand relations and will work closely with Wong through bilateral, regional and multilateral frameworks to promote cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, food security, digital economic, and tourism.
Shinawatra added: “(In 2023) Thailand welcomed more than 1 million Singaporean tourists. I thanked Singapore for taking care of Thai tourists and workers in Singapore”.
Singapore and Thailand established bilateral relations in 1965 after Singapore gained independence.
In an Aug 2023 media statement following the 3rd Singapore-Thailand political consultations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that both countries enjoy excellent bilateral relations which is underpinned by regular high-level exchanges, strong defence and economic links, and people-to-people ties.
Singapore was Thailand’s eighth-largest trading partner in 2022, while Thailand was Singapore’s ninth largest. That year, bilateral trade increased 23.4 per cent year on year to reach S$42.1 billion, reported The Business Times in 2023.
During Srettha’s first official visit to Singapore as prime minister in Oct 2023, then-prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said that partnerships between the two countries’ educational institutions are growing and more young Singaporeans visit Thailand for internships, reported The Nation then.
”Singaporeans also enjoy visiting Thailand for the scenery, culture, food and shopping, just as Thais like to come to Singapore too,” said Lee.
Thailand has also supported the Singapore Armed Forces’ training in Thailand since 1978.
Wong and Shinawatra are expected to exchange visits in 2025.
“Both Prime Minister Wong and I agreed to exchange visits to further enhance relations in particular as we will celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Singapore in 2025”, said Shinawatra in her post.
ALSO READ: Thai king endorses Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister
