During 25 – 30 July 2012 the Royal Thai Embassy in Bucharest in collaboration with the Honorary Consulate of Thailand in Sofia organized the Thai Cultural Festival 2012 in Varna, the third biggest city and a popular tourist destination in Bulgaria. In the opening ceremony at Grand Hotel Varna, H.E. Tasanawadee Miancharoen, Ambassador of Thailand in Romania and Bulgaria, delivered opening remarks that this event has been organized in the hope to promote connectivity between Thailand and Bulgaria, believing that the best way to promote good economic and political cooperation between countries was to get to know and appreciate each other.

 

The event comprised three intertwined components to present Thai culture. The first component was Muay Thai since the festival was set in parallel with the European Muaythai Championships organized by the Bulgarian Confederation of Kickboxing and Muaythai. There were demonstrations of Muay Boran or ancient traditional Muay Thai by 3 professional Muay Boran instructors from Thailand at the Palace of Culture and Sports and also at various venues in the city. The second component was the Thai Street Food Festival where Bulgarian people and foreign visitors were able to enjoy varieties of scrumptious Thai street food and had an opportunity to shop for Thai handicrafts. The third component was Thai cultural dances which were performed at various venues all over Varna in several tourist spots throughout the Thai Cultural Festival along with Muay Boran demonstrations and the Thai Street Food Festival. 

 

The event was a great success and attracted much attention from both media and general public.