Ambassador Paredes thanks Udon Thani Provincial Government Officials for their assurances to assist and support the Filipino Community (credit: Udon Thani Provincial Government official photo)
Bangkok, 09 March 2023 - Philippine Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Millicent Cruz Paredes paid a courtesy call on Udon Thani Governor Wanchai Kongkasame on 03 March 2023, as part of her official visit to the Kingdom’s northeastern region of Isan.
Ambassador Paredes, on behalf of the more than 1,000 Filipino nationals working and residing in Isan, thanked the Governor and people of Udon Thani for the warm and generous hospitality accorded to the Filipino community. The Ambassador proudly noted that the majority of the Filipino community work as English teachers in Thailand’s public schools. She lauded their significant contribution to Udon Thani’s burgeoning growth as the economic, tourism, and transportation hub of the Thai Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), as well as to Thai society, especially its youth.
Testament to the strong people-to-people ties between the Philippines and Thailand is the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding between Udon Thani Rajabhat University and Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University in La Union, Philippines on joint degrees, teaching, research and cultural activities, among other forms of educational cooperation.
Governor Wanchai likewise recognized the important contribution of Filipinos to Udon Thani, and assured Ambassador Paredes of the province’s continued support and hospitality for the Filipino community. And in response to the Ambassador’s appeal for Udon Thani’s assistance in the ongoing fight against trafficking in persons in the Mekong region, Governor Wanchai promised the Ambassador that Udon Thani’s government will assist any Filipino citizen caught in distress.
Ambassador Paredes thanked Governor Wanchai for his assurances and for his briefing on the plans and programs of Udon Thani. She congratulated the government of Udon Thani for its designation as a MICE city in 2020, and for being chosen as the venue for Thailand’s hosting of the International Horticultural Expo in 2026.
The Ambassador’s official visit to Udon Thani centered on her engagements with the Filipino Community, such as the Palarong Pinoy 2023 which gathered all the Filipino community organizations in the northeast of Thailand, the oath-taking of their organizations’ officers, the Embassy’s Awareness Campaign on the Trafficking in Persons Situation in the Mekong Region, and a Consular Outreach Mission for the Filipino nationals in Isan. END
Ambassador Paredes presents Governor Wanchai with Philippine cacao liqueur
Ambassador Paredes (middle; fifth from left) and Governor Wanchai (fourth from right) with Udon Thani senior officials and the Philippine Embassy’s Second Secretary Ms. Beatriz Davila (second from left) (credit: Udon Thani Provincial Government official photo)
