Vietnamese Defense Minister visits Naval Command in Phuket

PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy’s Third Area Command gave a warm welcome to General Phung Quang Thanh, Vietnam’s Minister of National Defense, yesterday as he made his first diplomatic visit to the Phuket naval base responsible for Thailand’s Andaman coast.

“I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit Thailand several times. This is my first official visit to the Third Naval Area Command,” said General Thanh.

“Although the growth of the global economy has slowed, the Thai economy is getting better and better. Thailand is a beautiful country, Thai people are friendly and the tourism industry is well organized. Vietnam has to develop and promote itself more. We will follow Thailand’s model,” he added.

“Thailand and Vietnam have always had strong relations. There are similarities in our cultures and traditions. Our territorial waters also border each other. We have joint patrol missions and work together to protect territorial waters and marine resources,” he stated.

Third Naval Area Commander Vice Admiral Tharathorn Khajitsuwan said, “It is our great pleasure to welcome General Thanh. We hope he will make more visits to us in the future. I will propose to the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy that we strengthen relations between Thailand and Vietnam by arranging more visits of the Thai navy to Vietnam.”

“General Thanh will visit Phi Phi lsland to relax. We arranged a ship and officers to take care of him during the trip,” he added.

— Kritsada Mueanhawong