Thailand ambassador Panyarak Poolthup during the opening of the food festival. Philippine ambassador Crescente Relacion with his wife, Meike Naomi Loing Relacion, at the festival. PICTURES: Joey Aguilar
By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter
The second Thai Food and Cultural Festival kicked off in Doha yesterday, attracting hundreds of visitors, including a number of diplomats from the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).
Ambassadors Deddy Saiful Hadi of Indonesia and Crescente Relacion of the Philippines were among the envoys to attend the event, called ‘Amazing Thailand’.
“I really like Thai food,” said Hadi, citing his favourite Tom Yam Kung soup. “I usually order it with rice and then kalas,” he said. “It has a unique taste.”
Both Hadi and Relacion said they tried the famous Pad Thai which is often served in most Thai restaurants in Doha. They also congratulated Thailand ambassador Panyarak Poolthup for “a very successful festival”.
Aside from the Pad Thai, most of the visitors were delighted with the mouth-watering taste of the red and green chicken curry. Loaded with spicy ingredients, noodles of all sorts were the bestsellers at the festival.
Poolthup, who led the opening of the festival, described Thai cuisine as “rich and diverse like its culture”.
“Uniquely crafted to appeal to all tastes, Thai food combines the best flavours, textures, colours and presentations,” he said in a speech.
Poolthup lauded teachers, parents and students of the Thai Language and Culture school who volunteered to help in organising the annual affair.
Ekaphat Premyodhin, first secretary of the embassy, disclosed that the event also aimed to generate funds for soldiers who are undergoing therapy at the Thai Veteran Hospital. Some of the funds will be given to the Thai school and community in Doha, especially those who are in dire need, said Premyodhin, adding that there were about 2,700 Thai expatriate workers in Qatar.
As head of the Asean Committee in Doha, Premyodhin said they were planning to hold various sports activities like bowling and badminton competitions this year. They will also organise a week-long food festival in one of the hotels in Qatar.
“All the activities are part of promoting Thai tourism in this country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Relacion and culture attache Richard Billedo said the activity should be duplicated by other Asean countries, especially the Philippines.“We also want to organise an event like this and we hope to do it this November,” Billedo stressed.