The Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand

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The Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand

by Kathleen Pokrud

 

 

The new Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Mrs. Samantha K. Jayasuriya still eagerly awaits to receive her credentials from the King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua. But as Sri Lanka celebrates its Independence Day on Tuesday, February 4th 2020 we managed to convince her to sit and talk to us where she told us of the great honour that had been bestowed upon her to represent Sri Lanka in the dream destination for any Ambassador, the Kingdom of Thailand.

 

Did you arrive to Thailand from home, or were you posted somewhere else before?
Coming to Thailand directly from Geneva, Switzerland as a result of the promotion to Ambassador position.

 

Where are you born and brought up?
I was born in a suburban area 22km away from Colombo city. It was very much a village atmosphere in Kottawa when I was a child – today it is a transport hub, much changed in all aspects and simplicity.

 

At which age did you decide you wanted to become a diplomat?
I had no plans to be a diplomat. It was the wish of my parents to see I become a Doctor of Medicine and I did study bio science. The patients were lucky! I did not reach there, but ended up as a graduate in Agriculture Economics, from the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. When I was an Assistant Lecturer at the Faculty together with a few friends we applied for the open competitive exam for the Sri Lanka Foreign Service (SLFS) – it was on the last day of closing applications we did so. I passed the examination and a subsequent interview and was approved for initial training at the diplomatic academy in Sri Lanka. There is no one in my family or extended family who are diplomats.

 

How do you look at Thailand today? Have you had any obstacles since you arrived?
It is now four months since I arrived in Thailand and I am still in the process of settling in. This is my first time to visit Thailand. I look at the country as a land filled with positive lessons to learn and explore.

 

Do you see any similarities between your country and Thailand?
Thailand appears a home away from home in many fronts. The most fundamental fact is the way of life of people, the family bonds – extended family centred society. The Theravada Buddhist tradition has been the foundation of the relations between our two countries. It dates back to 800 years when the Theravada Buddhist tradition practiced in Sri Lanka was introduced to Thailand. That is why you have a chapter called “Lankawamsa’ here in Thailand. Similarly in 1753 when Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was under colonial occupation. It was from Thailand (Siam) that ordination was reestablished by Phra Upali Thero. Today the Buddhist chapter in Sri Lanka is called ‘Shaymopali Nikaya’ – or Siam Chapter. Since then there have been many exchanges through Buddhist monks. The Temple Wat Bowonniwet for example has specific buildings allocated for the monks who then visited from Sri Lanka, called ‘Lankawasa’. If you consider the architecture of some bell-shaped ‘stupas’ or ‘chedi’ in places like Nakhon Si Thammarat, they were inspired by Sri Lankan Buddhist culture. As is the white temple in Chiang Rai.

 

There are many socio-cultural similarities like the common celebrations such as the New Year in April. Here in Thailand you call it ‘Songkran Festival’, visit family and friends, temples and pay merit. In Sri Lanka people would pay gratitude to parents, elders, use it a period to reconcile and move on. The specific period where there is no auspicious time or the Sankranthi/Nonagatha people goes to temples.

 

Due to the influence of Sanskrit there are similar expressions, we greet by clasping the two hands together close to the heart and say ‘Ayu-bo-wan’ (May you have long life), Thais say ‘Sawadee’ giving a similar greeting.

 

Sri Lankans value family relations, respects for elders and priests. I wonder whether you know that we have two specific pali verses to worship our parents.

 

Do you have children? What age and where do they go to school?
We have one daughter who is 10 years and she is now attending KIS International School.

 

How do you look upon your work here? What does an average day look like?
It is very difficult to say there are average days, as each day brings new experiences. However, there are few things that I do as a routine each day. I take my daughter to school, so I wake up by 5.30am and leave home at the by latest 6.45am to beat the Bangkok traffic. On my way, I normally finish reading the morning newspapers, listen to the radio news, check emails and browse through the Sri Lankan and world news on the web. I am normally in my office by 8.30am if I do not have any appointments early morning outside the office. As I have both bilateral and multilateral responsibilities, no two days is ever the same, it is exiting and opens up new connections each passing day.

 

As with every Ambassador, I assume you have some goals you really would like to reach/fulfil before you leave Thailand. What are they?
We first established diplomatic relations way back in 1955 and as any new Ambassador, my first objective is to build on the good relations that has so happily co-exist and see ways of galvanising it further in every front, political, socio-economic, cultural and more importantly to enhance awareness about Sri Lanka among the Thai people.

 

Full Story: https://expatlifeinthailand.com/featured/the-sri-lankan-ambassador-to-thailand/

 

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