The Thai royal family on Sept. 27 sent a delegation to honor Sung Ching-yun (宋慶雲), a Taiwanese agricultural adviser to the kingdom, at the unveiling of a memorial to Sung at Taichung’s Fushoushan Farm (福壽山農場), a Veterans Affairs Council official said on Monday.
Sung led the nation’s agricultural assistance team in Thailand’s Golden Triangle and worked closely with Thai Prince Bhisadej Rajani through the royal family’s charity.
He developed a rapport with the Thai royal family and played a major role in the ongoing cooperation between the two nations, the official said.
After retiring to live in Thailand, Sung was hired by Rajani’s Royal Projects Foundation to continue his work developing a viable economic alternative to opium cultivation.
When he passed away in December last year, Sung received Thai funerary honors that are reserved for a member of the royal family, the official said.
The Veterans Affairs Council also paid homage to Sung’s contributions to Taiwan-Thailand relations by dedicating a memorial to him at Fushoushan Farm, where he once worked, the official said.
Veterans Affairs Council Director Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) said the government intends to build on the relations Sung and his generation created with Thailand.
The nation’s relations with Thailand are of great importance and would continue to prosper under the government’s New Southbound Policy, Lee said.
Royal Project Foundation deputy chairman Pongsak Angkasith said the foundation is grateful for Sung’s contributions to Thailand.
The foundation is to continue working with the council through the framework of a memorandum on agricultural exchanges, Angkasith said.
Rajani canceled a personal appearance at the unveiling of the memorial due to his advanced age, sources said.
Other senior officials of Thai charities connected with the royal family did attend the unveiling ceremony, including Suthat Pleumpanya, Richard Bunnag and Padari Bunnag.
A brass triangle on the memorial symbolizes the Golden Triangle where the agricultural assistance program was conducted.
Carvings of a Formosan black bear and an Asian elephant are on the memorial to represent Taiwan and Thailand.
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