Magyar Posta and Thailand Post are issuing a joint commemorative souvenir sheet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Hungary and Thailand. The perforated stamp of the Hungarian and Thai souvenir sheets was designed by Acting Lt. Patipol Sorging and has the same visual appearance. Fifty thousand copies of the Hungarian edition, whose frame was designed by the graphic artist Barnabás Baticz, were produced by ANY Security Printing Company. The new issue goes on sale at Filaposta in Hungary, philately specialist services, designated post offices and www.posta.hu from 29 November 2023.
János Xántus was the first Hungarian scientist to travel to Thailand in 1869 as a member of the Austro-Hungarian expedition to East Asia, commissioned by József Eötvös, Minister of Culture. He published the first account of the country in Hungarian, whose titletranslates “Travel Notes from Siam” (Úti jegyzetek Sziámból), in 1887. In 1897, King Chulalongkorn visited Hungary during his tour of Europe. In the 1930s, film director and ethnographer Pál Fejős made a documentary film in Thailand entitled A Handful of Rice.
Official relations between the two countries were already established in the 19th century: on 17 May 1869, the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation was signed between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Siam in Bangkok, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire established a diplomatic mission (embassy) in Bangkok in 1912. Rudolf Wodianer von Maglód, the Consul General, who was of Hungarian origin, presented his credentials to King Vajiravudh in March 1913. During the period of diplomatic relations, the Kingdom of Siam was also represented at the court in Vienna. Diplomatic ties were severed during the First World War. Over half a century later, diplomatic relations were restored on 24 October 1973, leading to Hungary opening an embassy in Bangkok in 1978 and the Kingdom of Thailand following suit in Budapest in 1989. (Source: bangkok.mfa.gov.hu)
The joint stamp has the theme of river-front historic buildings and combines the attractions of the two countries’ capitals in a single composition. The design of the commemorative souvenir sheet’s stamp shows the Grand Palace of Bangkok, the Chao Phraya River and the Royal Barge in the Thai part, and the Buda Castle and the Danube in the Hungarian part. While the stamp design portrays the buildings illuminated at night, the frame design shows them in daylight. The coloured logo of the jubilee commemorative year appears on the first day cover, while the commemorative postmark features a stylised image of the same logo.
