Envoy rues state of Thai-Saudi ties

After 21 years and 17 Thai governments, nothing significant has changed as far as troubled Thai-Saudi relations are concerned.
Nabil Ashri, head of mission at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, is ending his term here knowing that if he has been more optimistic than his predecessors about the ties, there were good reasons for their having been such pessimists.
Known as the friendliest and most positive Saudi envoy to Thailand in modern times, he gave a telltale answer when asked what had been the toughest of his six and a half years in the Kingdom.
“Every year,” he said, adding: “In 2006, there was the coup. In 2007, the yellow shirts rallied. In 2008, the red shirts rallied, and they did so again in 2009 and 2010. Last year it was the floods.”
With revolving-door Thai governments preoccupied with political and natural turbulence, and with a new foreign minister almost every year, the envoy has been practically chasing shadows in his bid to solve key issues delaying the normalisation of bilateral ties.
“I know every [Thai] government has its own internal problems. That’s why I believe nobody was serious enough to solve the problems with Saudi Arabia. [Thai authorities] started to become more serious two years ago, and then things slowed down a little bit after some officials moved to other posts. And sometimes I couldn’t meet the officials at all, like during the flooding and the red-yellow shirts’ rallies,” he said.
Still-missing Saudi jewellery and the unsolved murder cases involving Saudi officials and a high-profile businessman have blocked normalisation. The envoy had expected big progress in the investigation into these matters, but he is leaving Thailand feeling frustrated.
“Saudi Arabia only wants justice. We want to know who did it and why, so we can tell our people. And I want to see the Thai government become really serious about it,” he said.
Strong as these words sound, he has issued angrier statements during his term.
“There are three cases, and those three cases are [equally] important for us. Of course, if it happened to Thai citizens, I want to know what you would feel and what the Thai government would do. I’m sure they would do more than what we have done.
“Yes, Saudi Arabia needs Thai skilled workers, but first of all, we want to solve the problems, and we know the Thai government can do so, if they are more serious [about it]. Saudi Arabia is looking east, and we would love to have more investment in Thailand in the private sector, and also government-to-government,” he said.
He reiterated that his country would certainly welcome back Thai labour when bilateral relations improved.
“Thai skilled workers are among the best who came to work with us. We enjoy having Thai labour very much, and the Saudi market would love to see Thai workers come back,” he said.
His successor is likely to face a similar situation, as the Thai political crisis drags on and tends always to overshadow diplomatic issues like the ones with Saudi Arabia.
The outgoing envoy’s advice is for whoever replaces him to be patient yet serious in pushing for solutions to the bilateral impasse.
“Be serious, honest with the Thais, and show them exactly how important Thailand is to Saudi Arabia, and how important Saudi Arabia is to Thailand. Show them the benefits that both countries can get from a good relationship,” he said in relation to what he wants his successor to do.
When asked if, after six and a half years here, he remained optimistic the Thai government can finally solve the cases, he said: “I will still be optimistic until the cases are solved.”