General Boonsrang Niumpradit,
General Alexander B. Yano, ?
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Royal Thai Embassy, it is a great pleasure to express my sincerest and warmest welcome to General Boonsrang Niumpradit, Supreme Commander, Royal Thai Armed Forces and party, General Alexander B. Yano, Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as the high ranking officials of the Philippine Air Force, Philippine Army and Philippine Navy.

Your Honourable?s presence here tonight is proof that you are all indeed? friends of Thailand, and I hope this will be the positive start of a long-lasting and closer friendship between us and our two country?s armed forces.

It is also my hope that the official visits of our Supreme Commander in Manila, first in March of last year and today until 2nd July, will further contribute to the increased cooperation between our two armed forces. You can be assured that I am one with you as well as our Supreme Commander, as friends of the Philippines, in advancing our common goals and interests towards our two armed forces that are responsive of all the needs of its country and people.

In 2009, Thailand and the Philippines will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of our Diplomatic Relations. Honourable colleagues, I look forward to working closely with you in promoting closer relations between our two countries and peoples on various areas of mutual interest, particularly in enhancing people-to-people contacts, more opportunities of activities and networking between our two armed forces, and exchange of high-level visits and dialogue.????????? ?

Ladies and Gentlemen,
On this occasion, my dear colleagues, I am honoured to meet all of you tonight and I hope our interaction and dialogue will contribute to better understanding and closer ties of friendship, as we work together towards a brighter future for our two countries and peoples.

Last but not the least, I would like to express my condolences to the families of the victims of Typhoon Frank and also extend my support to the rescue- mission efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In addition, the Thai Prime Minister and Thai Foreign Minister also convey condolence through President Arroyo and Foreign Secretary Romulo, to the families of the victims.

Thank you very much.