Celebrating 60 years of firm ties

Singapore’s Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong will make his introductory official visit to Thailand tomorrow. He will be the first foreign head of government that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will host in the kingdom.
The visit holds great significance for both countries as Singapore and Thailand prepare to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations next year. This joyous occasion also coincides with the 60th birthday of Singapore. Thailand was one of the first countries to recognise Singapore’s independence on Aug 9, 1965.
However, our two countries’ deep friendship goes back much further. Even before modern Singapore was founded, Siamese merchants visited Singapore regularly for trading activities when Singapore was still a British colony in the 19th century.
In March 1871, His Majesty King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn) made Singapore the first foreign destination ever visited by a Siamese monarch. His Majesty gave a bronze elephant statue to the people of Singapore as a gift to commemorate the momentous occasion. This state visit also marked the start of close ties between Singapore and Thailand.
Today, the monument continues to stand proudly at Singapore’s Old Parliament House, an enduring reminder of the long history of amity and friendship our two countries share.
As we look back at the past 59 years of bilateral relations, both countries have become steadfast partners in many areas, including defence, civil service cooperation, as well as in trade and investments. Our relations are multi-faceted and have always been based on mutual trust and benefit.
Several key areas continue to underpin the warm ties between Singapore and Thailand.
First, our economic relationship is substantive and strong.
Singapore and Thailand have always been among each other’s top 10 trading partners. Singapore also continues to be a steadfast investor in Thailand because we believe in Thailand’s economic potential.
Last year, Singapore was the second-largest foreign investor in Thailand, with an investment value of $4.8 billion Singapore dollars. Our growing trade and investment links reflect the upward trajectory of our bilateral relationship.
Second, our people-to-people ties are robust.
For instance, the Singapore–Thailand Civil Service Exchange Programme was created in 1998 to institutionalise civil service exchanges and enable officials to forge stronger links and learn from each other in order to better serve our peoples.
There are also over 70 Singapore schools that have established partnerships with Thai schools and offer valuable opportunities for youths in both Thailand and Singapore to broaden their horizons.
Thailand is a popular tourist destination for Singaporeans, and vice-versa. Over one million visitors from Singapore made Thailand their holiday destination in 2023 — which is about one in every six persons of our 5.9 million population!
Culturally, there are many traces of Thai culture and influence in Singapore. One prime example is Wat Ananda Metyarama, the oldest Thai temple in Singapore. Having been in Singapore for over 100 years, the temple is a unique blend of Thai and Singaporean culture and is a sanctuary for Buddhists to congregate and appreciate the varied aspects of Thai culture.
While our relationship is mature, both countries are continually exploring new areas of cooperation and have become trailblazers in a variety of fields.
For instance, Singapore and Thailand established the world’s first real-time payment system linkage between Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay in 2021 to enable our citizens to remit funds quickly, conveniently and at low cost. This has further laid the groundwork for Singapore and Thailand to pursue convenient cross-border payments with our fellow Asean member states and beyond.
Similarly, we paved the way by launching the first exchange-level depository receipts tie-up in Asean with the Thailand-Singapore Depository Receipts Linkage. Investors in our two countries can now directly buy and sell shares of publicly-listed Singapore companies and Thai companies through their local broker arrangements and in their local currency, which will contribute to a more accessible and integrated Asean stock exchange market.
As with the progress we have made in digital economy cooperation, there is more that Singapore and Thailand can do together and we are hopeful that Prime Minister Wong’s visit would spur both sides to announce new areas of interest.
As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year, Singapore and Thailand have agreed to commemorate this under the theme “Singapore-Thailand: Realising Opportunities for New Growth – STRONG @ 60”.
It demonstrates both the progress and potential of Singapore-Thailand relations and captures both countries’ desire to work even closer together.
More significantly, STRONG @ 60 represents a commitment to build on the already solid foundation between Singapore and Thailand to chart an ambitious and comprehensive agenda and break new ground for the mutual benefit of our peoples.
Catherine Wong is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Singapore to the Kingdom of Thailand.