Princess Sirindhorn meets with Fu Zengyou, director of the Confucius Institute of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

China has had diplomatic relations with Thailand for 35 years. The relationship between the two nations is now viewed as a model for countries with different social systems to develop peacefully, although it was a fairly different picture 35 years ago. Coming from Peking University in Beijing, Professor Fu Zengyou, current director of the Confucius Institute of Chulalongkorn University, was one of the three overseas students sent by the Chinese government in 1980. Speaking on the knowledge of China that Thai people possessed 30 years ago, Professor Fu said, " Historically Thailand had very good relations with China, but for quite a long time Thai people knew very little about China due to the different social systems and long isolation between the two countries, especially during the Cold War. For many Thai people, their knowledge of China came from the old generation coming to Thailand. For example, when I first came here, many Thais asked me whether people over the age of 60 in China were killed to make fertilizer. It sounds quite odd. Because of the princess and her movement to learn Chinese and dedication to introducing China to her people, many Thai no longer have misunderstandings about China."

In terms of the contributions that Princess Sirindhorn made in promoting Chinese language, Professor Fu told CRI that not only does the princess herself learn Chinese, but she contributes to making Chinese widely studied in Thailand. Besides, she also strongly supports the establishment of Confucius Institutes. Chulalongkorn University is the princess's alma mater, and a one-month experience learning Chinese at Peking University of China also left her with happy memories. So it is understandable that the princess is dedicated to pushing corporation between Chulalongkorn University and Peking University and opening Confucius Institutes.