Thai Ambassador visits Taplow Court for Anglo-Thai Society event

A celebration of the longstanding relationship between the UK and Thailand was held at Taplow Court.

Seventy members of the Anglo-Thai Society attended a summer reception on Tuesday, August 22. Special guests included several Thai dignitaries, most notably Thani Thongpakdi, Thailand’s newest Ambassador at the Royal Thai Embassy in London.

According to the Society, the Buddhist centre based on Cliveden Road has ‘a special place in Thai-UK history’ as it was once used by Thailand’s former King Rama V, who stayed at the estate in 1897.

The father of 11 children was invited to attend the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and used Taplow Court as his base while he also visited eight of his sons who were boarding at Eton College at the time.

King Rama V became heavily involved in the Taplow community, visiting local schools and presenting one school with a cup for a swimming competition.

Those important Anglo-Thai moments in history were retold in detail at the summer reception, with a young Thai student giving a speech about the events of 1897 accompanied by photographs that were brought out from the archives of the Royal Thai Embassy.

Steve Buckley, chair of the Anglo-Thai Society, said that it was a ‘wonderful occasion celebrating diplomatic and cultural links between the two nations’.

The former foreign office diplomat, whose last posting was in Thailand, enjoyed his visit to Taplow Court and said that there are plans for more Anglo-Thai Society events there.

“It was a beautiful day, the event went very well and we were very pleased as a society. The Thai Ambassador and his wife and about ten people from the Embassy came along.

“The SGI UK, the people who run Taplow Court, were our co-hosts for the reception. They were very helpful, providing some of their staff and volunteers and they invited a number of their guests to come along.

“Because of the background links to having the event there, all sides now are saying that we must have a return there for a similar function. It’s a great venue.”

The Anglo-Thai Society has just celebrated its 65th anniversary. It was established after another Thai king’s visit to the UK, whose aim was to create a society to promote relationships between the two nations to forge closer links in the future.