Maha Vajiralongkorn landed in Beijing on Thursday, marking the first state visit by a reigning Thai monarch to China.
He was invited by Chinese president Xi Jinping to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties in 1975.
King Vajiralongkorn, accompanied by his wife Queen Suthida, is set to meet with Mr Xi and premier Li Qiang, visit the Lingguang Buddhist Temple and Beijing Aerospace City, and attend a state banquet hosted by the Chinese leader.
Bangkok said the monarch’s visit “underlines the deep-rooted friendship and mutual understanding shared between Thailand and China at all levels”.
“Thailand and China share a special bond, we see them as siblings and they see us as family,” Tej Bunnag, former Thai foreign minister and ambassador to Beijing, said.
China is Thailand’s biggest trading partner. Bilateral trade exceeded $80bn last year, with Chinese investments expanding in automobiles, infrastructure and energy.
The two nations are also linked by centuries of migration, with many influential Thai business and political families tracing their roots to Chinese ancestors.
Since ascending the throne in 2016, King Vajiralongkorn has made a solitary foreign trip – to Bhutan earlier this year.
“China is the first major country which His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn officially visits,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a briefing last week. “This fully demonstrates the great importance that the two sides attach to growing bilateral relations.”
The visit comes just weeks after the death of the king’s mother.
Analysts said that China had long sought a Thai royal visit, noting that the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej never travelled to Beijing during his seven-decade reign.
“Look at all the countries China has diplomatic relations with, the heads of states of most of those countries have been to China, with Thailand an exception,” Sitthiphon Kruarattikan, an international relations scholar at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, told Reuters.
“To have a reigning Thai monarch visiting, this is what the Chinese wanted.”
According to the BBC, although no reigning Thai monarch had previously visited China, the royal family had long helped nurture bilateral relations, particularly through King Vajiralongkorn’s sister Princess Sirindhorn, who studied Chinese language and art for more than 45 years and made frequent visits to the country.
China is growing more assertive in Thailand, pushing it to crack down on cross-border scams, opposing gambling legalisation, and successfully pressuring the government to deport 40 detained Uyghurs earlier this year.”
