The meeting took place at Phuket Provincial Hall, where Governor Chotinrin received Her Excellency Lucy N Kiruthu, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to Thailand, during her introductory visit following her appointment.
Also attending were representatives from the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket Office (TAT Phuket), the Phuket Provincial Commerce Office, the Provincial Tourism and Sports Office, the Phuket Temporary Passport Office and other government agencies.
Governor Chotinrin congratulated Ambassador Kiruthu on her appointment and highlighted Phuket’s strengths despite its small size, pointing to its tourism infrastructure, more than 300 years of history and culture, and capacity to support international visitors.
He said Phuket was well placed to expand cooperation with Kenya in tourism, infrastructure development, public safety, tourism management, value-added agriculture and hotel service standards.
The governor also proposed greater cooperation in sports, particularly through exchanges involving long-distance runners, an area in which Kenya is internationally recognised, along with sharing sports knowledge and expertise.
Ambassador Kiruthu said the visit provided an opportunity to strengthen relations ahead of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Thailand and Kenya.
She said discussions covered trade, investment and tourism, as well as the possibility of creating a sister-city partnership between Phuket and a city in Kenya.
The ambassador noted that Kenya and Phuket share similar economic strengths, particularly in maritime logistics and marine conservation, including coral reef protection. She said Kenya was interested in learning from Phuket’s experience in developing its tourism industry, sports tourism, the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector, and tourism management systems.
She added that knowledge gained from Phuket could help support the future development of Kenya’s tourism industry.
Governor Chotinrin said Phuket was ready to exchange knowledge and cooperate with Kenya across a range of sectors to further strengthen relations between the province and the Republic of Kenya.