Some hundred people showed up yesterday evening at the Admiral’s Pub to say an early goodbye to Danish ambassador Ulrik Helweg-Larsen and his wife Christina.
The couple is leaving Thailand this summer as Ulrik Helweg-Larsen is to take on the ambassador position in Rumania.
The event was hosted by Danish Chamber of Commerce as a part of their monthly networking events, but this evening the chamber had booked the entire ground floor of the Admiral’s Pub instead of the usual 1st floor – a smart move as the people coming for the networking and to say goodbye the ambassador quickly filled out the restaurant.
The evening also featured presentations by TMB Bank and Danida about “Danish-Thai Partnerships in Environment and Energy.” As part of the presentation there was also information from the Embassy about its commercial services and its Clean Development Mechanism program.
Deeply touched ambassador
Chamber chairman Leo Alexandersen first took the floor doing the formal goodbye speech, where he emphasized that the ambassador would be truly missed.
“And don’t even get me started on Christina,” he smiled turning to the ambassadors energetic wife.
As Ulrik himself took the floor it was a deeply touched ambassador, who needed to pause his speech for a few seconds collecting him self.
He made it clear that he would be missing Thailand and the people here even more, but he was also looking forward to taking up the position in Rumania – the country where he held his first ambassador position and met his wife.
“This is not goodbye,” the ambassador emphasised to the crowd underlining it was more like a “see you”.
The ambassador is to start in Rumania on September 1st and is going to remain in Thailand the next months before the couple moves in order to get settled in their new “home country”.
