US Embassy in Bangkok organises grand Independence Day celebration

BANGKOK, July 3 (TNA) - The US Embassy in Bangkok has organised a grand event to celebrate the United States' 239th anniversary of Independence Day, which falls on July 4, 2015. The event, which also marks the United States' National Day, was held at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel in the Thai capital on Thursday night and crowded with international guests from both the public and private sectors and journalists. Thursday night's grand celebration was modeled by the annual State Fair organised by each US state for the "Fourth of July celebration", during which food and beverages are served, together with local shows to comprehensively display the American lifestyles. A recent survey reported on the Yahoo Travel website found that the largest State Fair was organised in the US Texas State, where a variety of activities were included. Meanwhile, US Chargé d' Affaires to Thailand W. Patrick Murphy delivered a speech during Thursday night's event, saying that the United States and Thailand have had a long-standing and sound relationship for 182 years and Washington is ready to move forward with Bangkok and both sides will continue to work hand in hand to deal with new challenges, namely natural disasters, epidemics and energy issues. For political issues, the senior US diplomat stressed that Washington remains firm on its stance on supporting Thailand to resume the democratic rule, expressing his confidence that the interim Thai government should follow its roadmap toward comprehensive national reform and standard democracy as soon as possible, as earlier targeted, in which people's rights and freedom in various fields are respected, as stated in the new Constitution, the country's ultimate law. The US chargé d' affaires also expressed his hope that Thailand should be ranked better in the upcoming US annual report on human trafficking issues, after the Kingdom was downgraded to the Tier 3 level in the previous 2014 report, thanks to Thailand's more stable political situation and national administration by interim Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha. (TNA)