Finnish Ambassador Jyri Järviaho on Diplomatic History, Economic Trade & Vodka [S6.E5]

Greg interviews Jyri Järviaho, Finland’s Ambassador to Thailand. Although Greg makes a valiant attempt at pronouncing the Ambassador’s name, the two begin by discussing the difficulty of Finnish, with the Ambassador explaining that it is a unique language that it is completely different from its neighbors, especially its western ones, such as Germany and Sweden. Next, the Ambassador recounts his diplomatic journey from a small village in Finland to university and later to a job with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and eventually various diplomatic postings around Europe and central Asia. Suffice it to say, he’s happy to be in the warm weather of Thailand.

The Ambassador next tells the fascinating story of Thailand and Finland’s first diplomatic contact. Finland’s first ambassador to Asia was on a trip to establish relations with Japan when he received a telegram in Singapore indicating that the country of Siam had recognized Finland as it had recently declared independence from Russia. The intrepid ambassador then re-routed to Bangkok and managed to make the first diplomatic contact with a representative of the Thai government. 

The two men continue by discussing the rest of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the trade in both goods and services, and the struggle by the Finnish Embassy to establish a unique identity in the eyes of the Thai people. 

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