[Contribution] Harnessing the Korean Wave: Reflections on three years of strengthening Thai-Korean relations

I arrived in Seoul in early 2024 as a stranger fresh from a term in Washington. Aside from a brief visit during my time in International Organization for Migration in 2003, South Korea was known to me only as home of the Korean Wave. I however spent the next three years learning how to harness this Korean Wave to serve Thai-Korean relations.

My time in Korea was highlighted by key leaders’ meetings and visits which paved the way for our countries’ relations. The most consequential did not take place until Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul held a meeting with President Lee Jae Myung on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Gyeongju in November 2025.

Our two leaders had developed good rapport and laid out plans for further concrete discussions. In the past two years, we also had many high level visits to Korea such as those of the speaker of the Thai legislature, deputy prime minister and minister of higher education, science, technology, and innovation, minister of foreign affairs, minister of labor, among others, and vice versa. Discussions during these visits led to closer collaboration in many fields, including technology and innovation, and greater protection for our workers.

At the outset, trade and investment was my top priority. With Team Thailand, including the Board of Investment Office and Thai Trade office in Seoul, and partners such as The Korea Herald we organized five business forums both in Seoul and Bangkok. Over 300 Korean and Thai businesses joined the Thailand Korea Business Forum in Bangkok in November 2025.

Several new and expansion investments have been announced from 2024-2026, including Hyundai Motor Group, COSMAX, Taelim Engineering, Enerth, KLES and Envelops, a smart power/smart farm company. On the other hand, Bgrimm, a Thailand-based power corporation has invested in the Korea’s largest offshore wind-power project with combined production of over 1,000 MW while SK Bioscience has been in the talks with Thailand’s Government Pharmaceuticals Organization to research and develop vaccines for existing and emerging diseases.

Ensuring future business and investment growth also requires closer collaboration in technology and innovation. We have also launched the Seoul Thailand Startup and Innovation Space (STSiS) at the Embassy to support Thai and Korean startups and tech companies to expand into each other’s markets and connect our two startup ecosystems. STSiS will be relaunched with activities for startups by the deputy prime minister and minister of higher education, science, technology, and innovation of Thailand later this year.

On cultural and public diplomacy, we have relaunched in 2024 the Sawasdee Seoul Thai Festival, raising the numbers of visitors from 50,000 to 110,000 this year. Beyond numbers, the festival has become a largest international festival in Korea and a bridge builder for Thai culture, business, tourism and innovation, complementing Thailand’s global public diplomacy.

Our team could not have accomplished these large undertakings without the support of our partners and the Thai community who has joined strength to support the embassy. The Consular Section, on the other hand, has provided greatly improved services, including streamlining of procedures, installing of e-legalization, issuing of almost 40,000 passports in a special project, and securing a dedicated building for consular services.

The Thai community leaders in Korea have also formed several organizations across Korea, such as the Thai Student Association, Nuadthai Volunteer Association, Thai Women’s Council, Thai Cultural Council, Thailand-Korea Business and Friendship Council, and Hantaemo Thai Association. These organizations have been instrumental in our efforts for the Sawasdee Seoul Thai Festivals and sharing of cultural understanding all over Korea.

Looking ahead, we look forward to President Lee’s visit, the conclusion of an FTA-like Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, signing of the Transport Agreement that includes partnership in high speed and urban electric trains. Both sides are also close to signing an MOU on the first Korean industrial park in Thailand. There are some 400 Korean companies in Thailand but there is ample room for more. Our national debt management public companies, BAM and KAMCO have readied their MOU as well. Following up on this year’s Business Forum, we also look forward to welcoming Korea Medical Devices Association in December.

Korea is my third assignment as ambassador but, more than other countries by far, Korea and her people have left a lasting impression on me.

Korea has risen from the ashes of war in the 1950’s when Thailand among other nations dispatched food for humanitarian assistance. Through hard work, team spirit, and dedication, Korean people rebuilt their lives and nation that they can be proud of today. Though small in size and surrounded by great powers, but with advancement in most fields of technology and critical industries, Korea can truly call itself a middle power whose influence and reach spread worldwide.

I also learned the Korean lessons for national development through local friends and my Korean soccer teammates, the Hanseong Baekje FC. They obey the rules and are fiercely serious even when they “play.” And that’s a part of Korea’s secret sauce for success.

Farewell Daehan Mingkook, I will always be a friend of Korea.

By Tanee Sangrat, Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of Korea

Tanee Sangrat has served as Thailand’s ambassador to the Republic of Korea since April 2024, following his tenure as ambassador to the United States from 2022 to 2024. Previously, he served as director-general of the Department of Information and spokesperson of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassador to Vietnam, consul-general in Los Angeles, and in senior positions overseeing bilateral relations and cooperation with neighboring and ASEAN countries. The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own. --Ed.