200 Years of U.S. – Thai Friendship

If you are visiting the Grand Palace you might like to be aware of a wonderful new exhibition:

 200 years of US – Thai Friendship at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles.

The museum is found just inside the main Grand Palace gates to your right.

I love the Queen Sirikit museum. Not only does it host some interesting exhibitions, it is also a perfect place to escape the crowds and also the heat. You will be thankful for a respite from the masses outside and a cool off, I can assure you.

There is another wonderful exhibition currently open at the here called ‘Fit for a Queen’, which shows more than 30 of Her Majesty’s best frocks and how her western wardrobe was created.

However, it is the exchange of gifts between the United States and the Kingdom of Thailand from 1818 – 2018 and the story of great and good friends which will capture our attention today.

This new exhibition celebrates 200 years of US- Thai friendship showing more than 50 official gifts exchanged between the nations.

The exhibit starts with the initial correspondence between US President James Monroe and King Rama II in 1818, which laid the foundation for an enduring alliance. The Americans needed sugar and the Thais were happy to oblige, in exchange for muskets!

There are some lovely examples of early diplomacy which didn’t quite work. Like when King Mongkut of Siam offered President Buchanan a pair of elephants ‘to increase and multiply in the United States…’

Look it was with every good intent, by this stage the  American Civil War was underway and Thailand had used elephants very successfully in war, Indeed in the late 17th Century, the Thai Kings had around 20,000 war elephants in use. There is a copy of a letter written by President Abraham Lincoln in reply which basically says very tactfully ‘thanks but no thanks!’

Not that the Americans were any better at working out appropriate gifts for the Thai Kings. There is a section which shows how the Americans undecided on appropriate gifts decided to stop off in China to buy lavish jewels and textiles which they felt were more befitting of the kings than anything they could bring from home.

Not a bad move, one could presume? Wrong! What Thailand was keen to receive was ‘made in America’ items such as scientific instruments. The Americans were subsequently given a written list for future visits which included all made in America items!

This is such a charming exhibition and Great and Good Friends underscores the significant bilateral ties – in trade, education, health, and people-to-people exchange. Thailand is afterall, America’s oldest treaty ally in the region.

For more information about the Great and Good Friends exhibition, see www.greatandgoodfriends.co

The exhibit will be presented through traditional displays, interactive multimedia and an educational space for lectures and youth outreach. It will run from March 20 to June 30 from 10am-5.30pm daily. Entry is 150 baht for adults and 50 baht for students with ID cards.

I urge you to visit, you will enjoy!

F is for Friendship and part of Blogging from A to Z April (2018) Challenge.

Click here to see the list of all participants!

Thanks so much to the organisers.