On 7th August 2017, Mr. Korn Suwanasai, Charge d’ Affaires, along with members of the Royal Thai Embassy, attended the ASEAN Day event at the Indonesian Residence in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN (Association of the Southeast Asian Nations).
ASEAN will reach its 50 years of age on 8th August 2017 after its establishment in 1967. ASEAN was founded with a view to strengthening Southeast Asian nations through creating a regional bloc aiming to promote cooperation in multi-faceted dimensions as well as to increase its leverage in the international stage. Nowadays ASEAN consists of 10 member countries, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, and has just leveled up its cooperation to become the ASEAN Community since 2015.
With the purpose to promote the presence of ASEAN beyond the region, the ASEAN Committees in Third Countries have been initiated to take up this role, comprising diplomatic missions of member countries based in a certain country. In Kenya, the ASEAN Nairobi Committee, consisting of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, has been putting its efforts to promote ASEAN among the people of Kenya through various activities such as organizing the ASEAN Festival and meeting with key agencies in Kenya.
Throughout the past 50 years, ASEAN has developed itself to stand out strongly in the world while also having to deal with newly emerging challenges. The Royal Thai Embassy, as an active member of the ASEAN Nairobi Committee, remains committed to fostering linkages between ASEAN and Kenya as the gate to the East Africa, promoting together Thailand and ASEAN in this land of opportunities and cooperation.