Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sent his congratulations to the newly appointed Prime Minister of Thailand, Srettha Thavisin, on Aug. 24.

Srettha is the newly appointed 30th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand.

In a letter, PM Lee expressed his confidence that Thailand will continue to grow and prosper under Srettha's leadership.

He also emphasised Singapore and Thailand's "warm and multi-faceted relations", through robust economic ties, close institutional links, and regular political and people-to-people exchanges.

Singapore and Thailand share a "longstanding and deep cooperation" across many sectors, including trade and investment, defence, and education.

Beyond being fellow Asean members, PM Lee noted that both countries are "strong partners in multilateral fora".

PM Lee expressed his wishes for the good relationship between both countries to continue to strengthen.

He wrote:

"I am certain that the friendship between our two countries will continue to strengthen in the years ahead.

I look forward to working closely with you to further broaden and deepen our bilateral relations, and to meet you soon."

PM Lee extended an invitation to Srettha and Pakpilai to visit Singapore at the earliest opportunity.

He ended his letter by wishing Srettha "success and good health".

Pakpilai is Srettha's wife. She is also a medical doctor in Thailand, specialising in aesthetic and anti-ageing Medicine

Background

Srettha became Thailand's new prime minister on Aug 22, over three months after after Thailand's May 14 general election.

He was one of the three PM candidates in the Pheu Thai party. Pheu Thai is the successor party to Thaksin and Yingluck's parties.

Srettha had his chance after the candidate for the Move Forward party, Pita Limjaroenrat, failed to get enough votes from the military-appointed senators.

Srettha's appointment as Thai's new PM comes one day after former Thai PM Thaksin was arrested by the police for committing crimes.

He underwent a court trial, before being sent to jail. All within a few hours after landing in Bangkok, ending his 15 years of exile.

However, Thaksin was later taken to a local hospital on his first night in prison, as reported by Reuters. Thai officials said that Thaksin was suffering from chest tightness and hypertension.

Top image from Srettha Thavisin on X, formerly Twitter