Bilateral relations between the

Republic of Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree o ...

and the

Kingdom of Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

formally date to 1965, when Thailand established diplomatic relations soon after the independence of Singapore. Both countries are the founding members of the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 Sovereign state, states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its ...

History

Singapore and Siam started trade relations before the founding of Singapore by

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...

. At that time, some Chinese Siamese merchants went to Singapore for trading activities. In 1871, King

Rama V Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his ...

of Siam visited Singapore and this was the first time of the Monarchy of Thailand visiting a foreign country. During his visit, he gave an elephant statue to Singapore which stands outside the Old Parliament House today. Royal thai embassy singapore june1 2009

In 1965, Thailand established diplomatic relations with Singapore, which had just gained its independence from

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. In 1967, both countries, with Malaysia,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, formed the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations. In 1978, when the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between Democratic Kampuchea, controlled by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It began in December 1978, with a Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia which to ...

broke out, Singapore supported the actions of Thailand towards Cambodia. In 1997, the two countries established the relations of "Enhanced Partnership". In 2005, S.R. Nathan, the President of Singapore, visited Thailand, making the first visit of the President of Singapore to Thailand. In August 2015, Tanasak Patimapragorn, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, visited Singapore and met

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

, the

Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore, is the head of government of Singapore. The President of Singapore, president appoints the prime minister on the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is Lawrence Wong, ...

. The leaders reaffirmed the longstanding and excellent relations between Singapore and Thailand. During Tanasak's visit, he also met K. Shanmugam, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore for the commemorative activities of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, and the enhancement of the interpersonal relations between the two countries.

Trade relations

According to the data from

The Observatory of Economic Complexity The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) is an online data visualization and distribution platform for international trade data designed and owned bDatawheel Through interactive visualizations, the OEC aims to make global trade data accessib ...

, the exported values from Singapore to Thailand were between 2 billion and 4 billion US Dollars between 1995 and 2002. Then the value increased and rose to 7 billion US dollars in 2008. Though the value was dropped to 5 billion US dollars the next year, it then rose again and made a peak of 8 billion US dollars in 2013. Singapore mainly exported machines to Thailand. Since 2002, the scale of chemical products in exported products had increased. Between 1995 and 2003, The exported values from Thailand to Singapore were between 4 billion and 6 billion US dollars. The values started rising in 2003 and the values increased to the range between 9 billion and 10 billion US dollars. Thailand mainly exported machines to Singapore while the proportion of refined petroleum in the exported products started to increase in 2003. When

Prayuth Chan-ocha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; , ; born 21 March 1954) is a former Thai politician, army officer and dictator who became the 29th prime minister of Thailand after seizing power in the 2014 coup d'état and served unt ...

, the

Prime Minister of Thailand The prime minister of Thailand (, , ; literally 'chief minister of state') is the head of government of Thailand. The prime minister is also the chair of the cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Siamese Revolution of 1932, when ...

, visited Singapore in June 2015, Singapore and Thailand signed two agreements about the avoidance of double taxation and cruise travelling. Moreover, in order to provide a platform for trading, investments, commercial activities and personnel training, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and the Federation of Thai Industries signed a memorandum of understanding.

Cultural relations

Since 1997, Singapore and Thailand established Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Program for regular interactions of personnel and experiences. The program covers 13 aspects. Among these aspects, there are more educational interactions between the two countries. Both countries also have technical cooperation under the

Singapore Cooperation Programme The Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) is a series of programmes offered by the Government of Singapore to facilitate the sharing with other developing countries the technical and systems skills that Singapore has learned and acquired over the y ...

. Under the Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Program, both countries give technical assistance to countries like

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

. In 2015, the

Media Development Authority The Media Development Authority (abbreviation: MDA) was a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History MDA was founded on 1 January 2003 by the merger of Singapore Broadcasti ...

of Singapore and the

Software Industry Promotion Agency Software consists of computer programs that instruct the execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital computers in the mid-20th cen ...

of Thailand enhanced cooperation in broadcast, audiovisual, animation, game and digital media aspects by signing a memorandum of understanding. In the same year, the

Silpakorn University Silpakorn University (SU.) (; ) is a national university in Thailand. The university was founded in Bangkok in 1943 by Tuscan–born art professor Corrado Feroci, who took the Thai name Silpa Bhirasri when he became a Thai citizen. It began as ...

of Thailand and the

Singapore Wind Symphony Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree o ...

staged a joint musical performance during an activity organized by the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of Thailand.

Military relations

Both countries share close defence ties, regularly sending personnel for cross training and holding various annual exercises between

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

and

Royal Thai Armed Forces The Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF; ; ) are the armed forces of the Kingdom of Thailand. The Highest Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย; ) is the King of Thailand. The armed forces are managed by the Minist ...

References

External links