Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

share bilateral relations officially dating to 1858. Thailand has an Embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, consulates generals in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and Germany has an Embassy in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

History

Origins

Early on, Germans were active in

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and reported on the country and its conditions, for example in the 17th century

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German naturalist, physician, explorer and writer known for his tour of Russia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He wrote two books about his travels. ''A ...

and Johann Jakob Merklein. And already in 1678 a certain Johann Janßen Strauß wrote about " Ayudhya" and portrayed the king as one of the richest men in the world. The young Prince

Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

had read about Siam and jokingly called the

Charlottenhof Palace Charlottenhof Palace or Charlottenhof Manor (german: Schloss Charlottenhof) is a former royal palace located southwest of Sanssouci Palace in Sanssouci Park at Potsdam, Germany. It is best known as the summer residence of Crown Prince Frederick ...

, which he helped design, "Siam." Manich Jumsai: ''History of the Thai-German relations (from the files of the Thai Embassy in Bonn and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs)''. Bangkok: Chalermnit 1978.

Start of formal relations

In 1858, Siam signed a trade treaty with the Hanseatic cities of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

and Bremen through the Hanseatic cities' representative in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. At the same time, a German consul in

received his authorization from King Mongkut (Rama IV): the German merchant Theodor Thies from Bangkok. However, the first ambassador of a German state, Friedrich zu Eulenburg for the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

, arrived in Bangkok only in 1861 and concluded a treaty of friendship with Siam in 1862. No suitable candidate could be found from the Thai side for an ambassadorial post in Germany, so King Mongkut asked

John Bowring Sir John Bowring , or Phraya Siamanukulkij Siammitrmahayot, , , group=note (17 October 1792 – 23 November 1872) was a British political economist, traveller, writer, literary translator, polyglot and the fourth Governor of Hong Kong. He was a ...

to serve as Siamese ambassador. The first Siamese diplomat to be sent to Germany was Prince Prisdang Choomsai (1881). Towards the end of the 19th century, German companies exerted a great influence on Siam's economic life and conquered important areas of the country's infrastructure development: Construction of the telegraph network, development of ports and the country's railroads and railroads. The first trip of a Siamese head led King Chulalongkorn Rama V in 1897 to Europe and also to Germany. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, however, all German possessions were confiscated under King Vajiravudh (Rama VI). In 2012, Germany and Thailand celebrated the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This anniversary year was used to intensify the exchange of political visitors.

Economic relations

Thailand and Germany are close economic partners. In 2021, German companies exported goods worth 4.9 billion Euro to Thailand. In turn, German imports from Germany stood at 6.9 billion Euro. More than 600 German companies are active in Thailand, who employ more than 200,000 people in Thailand. Before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

around 900,000 German tourists visited Thailand yearly. The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce promotes bilateral economic relations. The bilateral aviation agreement in place since 1965 is currently being harmonized in accordance with

European law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

. An agreement on investment promotion and protection treaty entered into force in October 2004.

Cultural relations

The close relations in the cultural field date back to the agreement of 1984. The Goethe-Institut in Bangkok is an important institution for cultural exchange, especially for the promotion of the German language. Many partnerships between German and Thai universities have developed over time. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has a student advisory center in Bangkok and offers a large number of scholarships for Thai students to attend international programs leading to bachelor's and master's degrees.

Literature

* Rudolf Baierl: "140 Years Peace : fundamental conditions for the commencement of German-Thai amity". ''5th Asia Pacific Forum 2003''. Als pdf unter http://public.beuth-hochschule.de/~baierl/Thai/A4Thai_Deut_Peace.pdf (letzter Zugriff am 10. November 2010). * Manich Jumsai: ''History of the Thai-German relations (from the files of the Thai Embassy in Bonn and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs)''. Bangkok: Chalermnit 1978. * Catthiyakorn Sasitharamas: ''Die deutsch-thailändischen Beziehungen in der Zeit der Weimarer Republik bis zum Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs''. Hamburg: Kovac 2012, . * * * * * Volker Grabowsky (Hrsg.): ''Thailand und Deutschland. 150 Jahre Diplomatie und Völkerfreundschaft.'' Zenos Verlag, Segnitz 2014, . * Pornsarn Watanangura: ''Literatur und Sprache: Studien zum deutsch-thailändischen Kulturkontakt.'' Aragon Verlag, Moers 2015, .

References

External links

Information from the German Foreign Office on relations with Thailand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-Thailand relations

Bilateral relations of Thailand