ISLAMABAD: The Thai embassy in Islamabad became the centre of attraction on Friday when one of its walls, recently painted by a local artist, featuring impressions reflecting similarities between between Pakistan and Thailand was launched.

The embassy had commissioned a local truck artist to paint a section of its wall to commemorate 70 years of long standing cordial ties with Pakistan. People were seen stopping by the wall to take photographs.

Hailing from the Sarband village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Siyar Khan, painted the 226 feet long, 10 ft high wall of one of the biggest Thai embassies in the world, in about two weeks for this event. His style and iconic subjects embellished with a Thai touch included eagles, a tiger, rickshaw, peacocks, colourful flowers and green valleys besides other decorations. The impressions reflected diversity as well as similarities in cultures of the two countries.

Ambassador of Thailand Chakkrid Krachaiwong said: “This is quite a big canvas to showcase Pakistani talent. It is also an effort to preserve traditional Pakistani truck art. We particularly appreciate images on the wall as they remind us of places back home. The Thai long tail boat paintings are quite similar in style to Pakistani truck art. This wall represents the Pakistani people, the delicacies and some of the similarities and friendship between the two countries.”

“The launch of the wall painting is also an opportunity to show appreciation to our second home, Pakistan,” he added. The ambassador took the opportunity to demonstrate his artistic skills and added a finishing touch by painting a red heart on the image of a rickshaw.

“I recently posted a picture on social media from my a recent visit to Gilgit-Baltistan and people back home were amazed that Pakistan was home to breath taking natural beauty and it got a lot of likes. More youngsters from Thailand now prefer Pakistan as an attractive destination for trekking and adventure tourism,” the ambassador said, adding that the Thai government would like to share experiences with Pakistan on promoting sustainable tourism.

According to the Thai Ambassador, the 70th anniversary of friendly relations commenced in October last year and would conclude by end of September this year with a celebratory event.

A two-day Thai festival featuring Thai food, and cultural shows would be held in Lahore in September, and would especially feature Muay Thai form of martial arts through demonstrations and instructions.

“We understand that ‘Made in Pakistan’ footballs are famous world over. So we have also decided to design a football with the 70 year logo made from Thai rubber combined with Pakistani craftsmanship. The best thing about this football will be that it shows that Pakistan turns imported quality Thai rubber into an even better finished product,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2022