Thai PM to visit Saudi Arabia as diplomatic relations thaw

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha will start a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Jan 25, 2022. - Reuters

RIYADH, Jan 23 (Reuters): Thailand's prime minister will visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Saudi foreign ministry said, in what will be the first high-level meeting between the two countries since a diplomatic row over a jewellery theft nearly three decades ago.

Saudi Arabia downgraded its diplomatic relations with Bangkok following the theft in 1989 of around US$20 million of jewels by a Thai janitor working in the palace of a Saudi prince, in what became known as the "Blue Diamond Affair”.