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| Lecture by
Thai Ambassador, September 2005 |
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ESUJ's very popular Ambassador Lecture
Series took place at the Japanese National Press Club
on Wednesday, September 7, with about 50 participants.
The speaker was H.E. Mr Suvidhya Simaskul, the Ambassador of Thailand to Japan. He talked
about
the similarities between the two countries and the history of their close relatioship from
several
viewpoints. First, he mentioned that shyness and a reluctance to speak foreign languages
are
character traits of both nations. Next, he gave a fascinating explanation of the two
countries'
languages: unlike kanji-based languages centered in Northern Asia (including Japanese),
whose
pronunciation differs from country to country, languages belonging to the Sanskrit-based
family of
languages of Southern Asia (including Thai) have similar pronunciation, even if the
writing is
different. He enumerated numerous historical ties between two counties and also mentioned
the
contribution of Yasui Tetsu to the education of women, and the use of Thai rice to make
Awamori
sake, leaving the audience impressed with his breadth of knowledge and charmed by this
most
interesting talk.
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