Thailand plans to borrow a white elephant from Myanmar as a symbol to mark 65 years of bilateral ties between the countries, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said yesterday.
Surapong said the Thai delegation discussed the idea with Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin during this week's Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation meeting in Bali. Diplomatic relations between the two countries will reach their 65th anniversary next year, and Surapong said an "auspicious" white elephant might play the symbolic role of a good-will ambassador, following in the footsteps of China's "panda ambassador" Lin Ping. The elephant could be displayed in Chiang Mai Zoo for six months to boost tourism, he said.
The Myanmar ambassador told Surapong that he would discuss the matter with the Nay Pyi Taw government.
Surapong also reported his discussion with U Wunna Maung Lwin on the European Union's wish for Thailand to aid some 2,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar for Thailand this year. The Myanmar minister assured him that a working team, led by Myanmar's ambassador to Thailand, was set to begin the process of verifying the Rohingya's nationality next week. Four months of the six-month period designated for Thailand to aid the Rohingya had already passed, so the identification process would aim for completion in two months, he said.
Surapong added that he had told EU representatives that Thailand had given what humanitarian aid it could to the Rohingya, but it was not a rich country. The EU should also help take in these immigrants, and not just leave them as Thailand's sole responsibility, he said.
