Thailand, Vietnam commemorate bilateral ties

NAKHON PHANOM, THAILAND, May 19 (TNA) - An event to commemorate bilateral relations between Thailand and Vietnam was held in Nakhon Phanom Province in the Thai Northeast on May 19, also marking the birthday anniversary of former Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh. The event, organised at the Thai-Vietnam Friendship Village in Baan Na Jok of Nakhon Phanom's Nong Yat locality of Muang District, was presided over on Monday morning by Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Ngo Duc Thang and Nakhon Panom Governor Adisak Thep-art. The event, organised to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the establishment of the Thai-Vietnam Friendship Village as well, was also attended by a group of Thai people and representatives of Thai-Vietnamese descents from across Thailand. Former Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh was born on May 19, 1890. He once stayed in Baan Na Jok in Nakhon Phanom's Nong Yat Sub-district from 1923-1931 to find out ways to liberate Vietnam during the Indochina War and was called "Uncle Ho" by local villagers. Baan Na Jok has since then become a historical site for Nakhon Phanom's locals and Thais with Vietnam's origins. The northeastern Thai province later turned the area into the Thai-Vietnam Friendship Village in 2004 to commemorate "Uncle Ho"and what had happened in the period, while also providing the younger generations with a historic and tourist attractio to learn about the biography of "Uncle Ho", as well as the Thai and Vietnamese cultures and friendship to foster and sustain sound relations between Thailand and Vietnam and their citizens, as member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Thailand and Vietnam, are scheduled to integrate into the ASEAN Community (AC) by 2015. During the event, 30 scholarships, 1,500 baht each, were also presented to local students to promote sound relations between Thailand and Vietnam. (TNA)