Royal Thai Embassy Celebrates the 60^th Anniversary of Thailand – New Zealand Diplomatic Relations with : Grand Opening of Thai Classical Performance “Khon,” 7 April 2016 and Thai Festival 9 & 10 April 2016

The Royal Thai Embassy, together with the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, presented a Grand Opening Performance of the prestigious Khon classical Thai masked dance-drama at the St James’ Theatre, Wellington on Thursday 7 April; and also held a two-day Thai Festival at Odlins Plaza on the Wellington waterfront on April 9 and 10 to mark the 60^th Anniversary of Thailand – New Zealand Diplomatic Relations.

Both events were very well attended and very successful.  The Embassy expresses its sincere appreciation for our partners and friends in the private sector, as well as the people of New Zealand, for helping to make these events to be the eminent successes that they were.

The people-to-people part of the relationship is the fundamental layer was strengthened and enhanced by the success of these events, and form the basis of our reasons to celebrate, not less important than the other aspects, being the government-to-government and business-to-business relationships.

The Grand Opening Performance of the prestigious Khon classical Thai masked dance-drama at the St James’ Theatre was presented by a professional troupe of more than 30 performers and musicians from the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Culture.  The audience was particularly enthralled by the story line of the Khon, following the Ramakhien, a Thai version of the ancient Hindu epic poem, the Ramayana; as well as by the sometimes delicate and sometimes very acrobatic movements of the dancers.

The Thai Festival at Odlins Plaza included an abundance of food stalls providing authentic Thai food, including some dishes not often found in regular Thai restaurants, such as “Crispy Gems in coconut milk” and coconut dumplings.  There were also a variety of performances on stage, including selected scenes from the Khon, the Dance of the Four Regions, drumming, singing and more.  Performers included the Ministry of Culture troupe, members of the local Thai community in Wellington, as well as members of the StarJam charity organisation.  Other attractions at the Festival were the tuktuk rides, and demonstrations of beautiful Thai handicrafts.

The Royal Thai Embassy and the Thai community in New Zealand were both very proud of these opportunities to share so many aspects of Thai culture with the people of New Zealand, as a way to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of our relationship.  Following these events the Embassy has received many messages of appreciation, both written and verbal, giving very positive feedback on the aspects of the Khon performance and the festival that were particularly enjoyed by those attending.  We believe that these events have served to strengthen our relationship further at the fundamental people-to-people level.