US ambassador bids farewell to Thailand

BANGKOK, October 9 (TNA) - US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney bids farewell to the Thai Kingdom, as her four-year tenure in Bangkok ends. Kenney on Thursday called on Thai Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, who oversees economic affairs, at Bangkok's Government House to say goodbye before returning to Washington to work for the US State Department in her new post. Stressing that US–Thai relations remain warm, the US top envoy told journalists after the meeting that she thanked the deputy premier and the Thai people for cherishing relations between the two allied countries. The US ambassador said she has completed her four-year assignment in Thailand and will soon return to the Unites States to work on Asia-Pacific affairs, in which she hoped she would have an opportunity to work with the Thai government again. MR Pridiyathorn told reporters, meanwhile, that he believed the outgoing US ambassador should now gain a better understanding on the interim Thai government's work to further develop the Thai economy and launch a national reform. The Thai deputy premier acknowledged that he has not discussed with the US top envoy on the generalized system of preferences (GSP) offered by Washington on Thai exports, which could be waived if Thailand was lifted from a low to a middle income earner, but the issue could be raised with the new US ambassador to Thailand, expected to take up the post next year. (TNA)