BANGKOK—The Philippine Embassy in this capital city joined the peoples and governments of the Philippines and Thailand in celebrating the 73rd anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between both countries on June 14, which marked the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between them.
Since 2021 the embassy has marked the milestone with an annual bloodletting, in response to the call of the Thai Red Cross Society for life-giving blood donations, especially in light of the ongoing pandemic. June 14 also happened to be World Blood Donor Day.
This year Ambassador Millicent Cruz-Paredes invited the Filipino community in Thailand to join the annual blood drive as a meaningful and personal way to stand in solidarity and friendship with the Thai people.
In her message to the Filipino community on the occasion of the 124th year of the Declaration of Philippine Independence on June 12, Paredes said the blood donation would be their humble gesture of amity from the Filipino community, then requested members of the Philippine Embassy to be among the first to take part.
Paredes personally led the embassy’s blood drive on June 10 by donating at the Thai Red Cross Blood Donation Center at Bangkok’s Emporium mall.
Since 1949 the two countries have signed 54 bilateral agreements and conducted a series of high-level exchange of visits—including the official visits to the Philippines of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in 2015, and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in 2019.