The Mongolian Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Mr. Tumur Amarsanaa
Expat Life had the opportunity in lockdown to interview the Mongolian Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Mr. Tumur Amarsanaa online.
How long have you been the Ambassador to Thailand?
Since August 2020, I presented my Letters of Credence to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun on the 26th of October 2020 and officially started my duty as an Ambassador of Mongolia to Thailand that day.
Did you arrive in Thailand from home, or were you posted somewhere else before?
I came directly from Mongolia, where I worked for the last nine years as a Deputy Director-General and Director-General for the International Legal Affairs and Treaty Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before that, I served as a diplomat at the Embassy of Mongolia to the Republic of Austria and Permanent Mission to the International Organisations in Vienna.
Where are you born and brought up?
I was born into a family of teachers and raised in Ulaanbaatar. Usually, the fates of the children are substantially influenced by the family they were born into. That was the case why I became an international lawyer.
How do you look at Thailand today? Have you had any obstacles since you arrived?
I look at Thailand as a country with a constructive approach that continuously improves its people’s social lives. Especially today, we can witness that Thailand has become one of the first countries that responded to Covid-19 effectively under strong leadership with the well resourced public health system. I have experienced no obstacles in my personal life since my arrival. The only obstacle could be the lengthened process and delayed approach in some official relations. We need lively and prompt collaboration to advance relations in today’s dynamic world.
Thailand has an ambitious plan to become “a developed country” by 2037 in its national strategy. Thus, the Royal Thai Government has successfully launched Eastern Economic Corridor, Thailand 4.0, and other development strategies and projects. As one of ASEAN’s key members, Thailand has made tangible progress in achieving sustainable development goals, especially in renewable energy, information technology, tourism, and the public health sector during the last decades. I think this experience of Thailand might be vital for us to study
Do you see any similarities between your country and Thailand?
Most Asian countries have similarities in culture, religion, ancestor worship, and natural collectivism. Amongst these significant similarities tying our countries together, in my personal view, is that the networking connection strongly emphasises similarities, maybe because the culture transferred into a business. Thai people are amicable and hospitable in every aspect of their daily life. That makes Thailand one of the famous tourist destinations, in my opinion. This type of hospitality to guests, travellers, and foreigners is also common in Mongolian nomadic culture.
How do you look upon your work here? What does an average day look like?
We recently moved our Embassy to Athenee Tower, the premier office building in the heart of Bangkok. The location is close to the Ploenchit BTS station. This significant location saves the visitors’ valuable time and provides an opportunity for us to make necessary diplomatic contacts. Since time is the only nonrenewable resource, our Embassy works every day during the Covid-19 to overcome issues caused by this pandemic and how we can support businesses to recover.
As with every Ambassador, I assume you have some goals you really would like to fulfil before you leave Thailand. What are they?
Resources have always been played an essential role in framing the country. The countries’ ability in our Asian region is to use their resource to manufacture and build high tech industries. I see that this is our possibility of cooperation which is eye opening in its scale. Having said that, and even though our team has numerous goals to achieve, the priority has given upraised collaboration between our two countries.
How many of your countryfolk are living in Thailand? When and why did Thailand become a desirable destination for your people?
We have around a hundred compatriots living in Thailand. Even though we are few in numbers, I firmly believe that Mongolians residing in Thailand are outstanding contributors to Thailand’s development. The number of Mongolians visiting the Land of Smiles is increasing because of Thai’s impressive picturesque beaches and hospitality provided by the welcoming and friendly people of Thailand. The other reason is that we have two non-stop flights a week connecting our two capitals, Ulaanbaatar and Bangkok. If we increase the direct flight frequency, the growth of tourist numbers in this region will expand dramatically.
Do your country and Thailand have any exchange programs for students today?
We do have cooperation between the universities, and we hope to expand collaboration between universities further. Based on a Covid-19 pandemic experience, I found that the Thailand university laboratories are very attractive for researchers who may not have access to the scientific facilities or joint international research on particular areas. During the last six months, I have visited Chulalongkorn University, the National Institute of Development Administration, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, and Chiang Mai University and agreed to develop an exchange programme and benefit from a variety of research.
If you could choose your next destination, where would you like to go?
The future depends on what you do today. Thus, I choose a place where I can do as many things as possible for my country.
What do you believe is your most important task as Ambassador?
Our job is to increase trade volume between our two nations. As a lawyer, my job is to encourage entrepreneurs to invest and build a concrete legal basis for reliable investment. We are working on several documents with our Thai counterparts on the Inter-Governmental Bilateral Investment Agreement and Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, which is the primary document to benefit both countries. The other thing is we encouraging B2B networking to find various opportunities to connect entrepreneurs. The Thai Chamber of Commerce graciously accepted our idea to realise this opportunity, and we established the Mongolia-Thailand Joint Chamber of Commerce in March of this year. Once these two tasks are fulfilled, then it will unquestionably improve two way trade ties.
What else would you like the expat community to know about your efforts?
I want to invite all people involved in the business sector to come on board to the Mongolia-Thailand joint Chamber of Commerce that could serve as a big ticket to expand their businesses.
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