An annual Thai Festival organized by the Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO) is to be the biggest in years when it opens in Taipei next month with food and live cultural entertainment flown in from Thailand, the office said on Tuesday.
Thai Festival 2023, open from noon to 8pm on April 29 and 30 in Xinyi District’s (新店) Xiangti Avenue Plaza, is to feature 10 shows from Thailand, TTEO chief of culture, protocol and education Phonlakrit Warawat said.
Among them will be fabric fashion shows showcasing regional styles of Thai clothing, brass music performances by students from the Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music in Bangkok and displays of Muay Thai boxing and sepak takraw, or kick volleyball, he said.
Photo: CNA
The festival is also to host about 30 booths of Thai food, and products and services, including hotels and golf resorts, Warawat said.
The festival is aimed at enhancing people-to-people relationships between Taiwan and Thailand and providing more insight into Thai culture, he said.
“We want to show things like what exactly Muay Thai is and how we dress in various parts of Thailand,” he said.
Dheerangkun Uchino, head of the TTEO’s economic affairs section, agreed.
“These kinds of events will bring more of a variety of Thailand to Taiwanese people so they can experience firsthand Thailand’s many dimensions,” she said.
The festival is also to welcome the Thai community in Taiwan, which numbers about 70,000 people, Warawat said.
“Sometimes they miss home, so we try to arrange some activities to make them feel at home,” he said.
Ministry of Labor data showed that about 66,281 migrant workers from Thailand were in Taiwan at the end of January.
There are also about 2,000 Thai students studying in Taiwan, Warawat said.
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