Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the First Contact between Thailand and Denmark from 1621 to 2021

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Year 2021 marks the 400th Anniversary of the First Contact between Thailand and Denmark. The Royal Thai Embassy in Copenhagen would like to take you on a historical journey of this long-standing relations between the two countries, from the beginning to present. The series will be divided into 20 parts as follows;

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Part1: The First Contact between Thailand and Denmark 400Years from 1621 to 2021

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In 1618, King Christian IV of Denmark sent Lieutenant Ove Giedde on a voyage leaving Copenhagen with 2 warships and 2 trading ships to assist the King of Kandy in Ceylon against his enemies. However, their negotiation for a trade treaty was in vain. The Danish fleet therefore proceeded to the Coromandel Coast where Danish captain received a small area of the fishing village of Tranquebar from the Prince of Tanjore. Before returning to Denmark, he appointed a Dutchman, Roland Crappe, Commander of Tranquebar where he built a trading station and a fortress named Dansborg.

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In 1621, Commander Roland Crappe set out for Tennasserim on the west coast of Myanmar, which belong to Siam at that time under the rule of King Song Dhamma of Ayutthaya, and were received with friendliness at the seaport of Tenasserim. This was evidenced by a letter written by Okya Chaiyathibodi, Governor of Tenasserim, on 10 December 1621, granting permission for Danish traders to trade with Ayutthaya. The Danes sold arms to Ayutthaya and brought back elephants to Tranquebar, marking the beginning of 400 years of friendly relations between the two countries.