500 Years diplomatic relation with Thailand

Set of stamps

First Day Cover with set of stamps

The time of the Caravelas finishes with the packing of the Bojador handle, in 1487. The domain of the winds and chains of the Atlantic, that allowed such fact, would make possible more remote trips and would justify the choice of the more apt Vessel as to affect the route of the Handle.

1511-2011, five centuries of uninterrupted relationship between the oldest and the only Western nation state-the South-east Asia never colonized. Exceeding the mere business contacts, relations between Portugal and Thailand provide a unique case in the annals of history of international relations, assuming the dimensions diplomatic, political, military, religious, cultural and sociological. These relations have always been from the beginning, relations of state-to-state relations between equals parity. In Ayutthaya, the ancient capital where there was a Portuguese neighborhood with its churches and Luso-Thai mixed population, generations of pilots, soldiers, interpreters and doctors loyally served the Kings Siamese. There, where Portuguese was the lingua franca of communication between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, the Portuguese introduced the technology and art of military construction, as well as the European pharmacopoeia and medicine. Closely related to the Asian possessions of the Portuguese Crown, the major embassies Zion received from Malacca, Macau and Goa and the relations between the two countries remained unchanged, even in hard times of the liberation war led by King Taksin - whose guard was composed of Portuguese - and Rama I, which received important military aid that the Queen Dona Maria I of Portugal sent him in 1796. In 1820, Siam and Portugal signed the first treatise written in the modern era, which was consecrated by the full integration of Siam in the international community. In the period of major reforms of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Rama Rama V and VI, many of Macau from Portuguese established themselves as advisers in Bangkok of the Siamese Government. Unlike other foreigners, were made and received Siamese Thai citizenship. The history of the old covenant is eloquent pioneering example of dialogue between civilizations.

Technical Details

Date of Issue: 20 July 2011

Values: two sets of se-tenant stamps of €0,32 + €0,80

Designer: Carlos Barahona Possollo

Printer: Cartor Security Printer

Process: 4-colour offset lithography

Size: 40 x 30,6 mm

Perforation: 11¾ x 11¾

Paper: FSC 110g./m2

Watermark:

Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps