On 21 December 2018, Miss Sweeya Santipitaks, Consul-General of Thailand in Kolkata, along with Miss Venus Asawapoom, Deputy Consul-General, and Mr. Nutt Svasti-Salee, Consul, attended Thai Airways International PCL Kolkata’s Exclusive Dinner Party under the theme “The World is always new with THAI” at The LaLiT Great Eastern, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Among other 30 participants were staff members of Thai Airways International PCL Kolkata and representatives from local travel agencies.

 

          Mr. Kris Theerarak, General Manager, Thai Airways International PCL Kolkata, delivered his welcoming address and introduced Thai Airways International’s 2019 theme of “Six Senses” or “Āyatana” (आयतन), which aim at bringing new experiences and sensations to its clients. Moreover, the General Manager also expressed appreciation for the positive turnover of Thai Airways International PCL Kolkata’s business operations throughout the year 2018. 

The airline also announced collaboration with the Royal Thai Government and the Tourism Authority of Thailand in promoting “secondary tourist destinations” across the four regions of the country.

 

          The Consul-General of Thailand was next invited to deliver her speech, during which she recalled the establishment of Thai Airway’s historic route Bangkok-Kolkata, on 2 May 1960, one month after the company’s foundation. Besides, she commended the fruitful collaboration between the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Kolkata, and Thai Airways International PCL Kolkata, which resulted in successful conclusion of a vast array of events and activities, namely the “Thai Festival” and the Thai Food Week”, the “Travel and Tourism Fair 2018”, and the “Amazing Thai Taste in Kolkata”, among others. The above mentioned events and activities contributed to fostering understanding and raising popularity about “Thainess” among Kolkatans and beyond, which is reflected by the annual rise in number of visa applications received by the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Kolkata.

    

          Furthermore, the Consul-General of Thailand mentioned Thailand’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019 and the announcement of 2019 as ASEAN Cultural Year. Thailand’s relevance as a cultural destination and a cultural connectivity hub between India and other ASEAN countries is to be reinforced by Thai Airways International’s extensive flying routes which link Thailand and India to the rest of the world. In this connection, Thailand thanks and appreciates local travel agencies’ role in bridging Thailand and India together.

 

          At the end of the event, the Consul-General was invited to grace a lucky draw, in which the winner was awarded 2 business class Thai Airways return tickets of the route Kolkata – Bangkok – Kolkata.