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The first major trip since the relationship was disrupted by a 1989 robbery of a Saudi prince who stole $ 20m from a Saudi prince.
The Thai Prime Minister will visit Saudi Arabia next week at the first summit between the two countries since a dispute over the theft of gems nearly 30 years ago.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Bangkok following the 1989 theft of about $ 20m by a Thai housekeeper working for a Saudi prince. The theft sparked a dispute between the so-called “Blue Diamond Affair” which still exists.
Thai police later recovered gemstones but Saudi officials said much of it was false, while the most valuable gemstone – the 50-carat blue diamond – is still unknown.
A summons from Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on a two-day visit from Tuesday was issued by Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the Thai government said.
“This trip is the first official visit between the two countries in more than 30 years,” the statement said.
Prayut is meeting with MBS “to strengthen and strengthen interpersonal relationships”, it added.
A statement from Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said the trip “comes in the middle of a dialogue that has led to a brief overview of mutual interests”.
The trip is aimed at uniting these issues, he said, without elaborating.
Saudi Arabia has long criticized Thai police for thwarting their investigation into the theft, claiming that the stolen stones were stolen by authorities.
The Blue Diamond Affair is still one of Thailand’s biggest unsolved secrets and was followed by a bloodbath that involved Thai police officials.
A year after the abduction, three Saudi ambassadors to Thailand were assassinated on three separate terrorists in one night.
Riyadh sent a Saudi businessman, Mohammad al-Ruwaili, to search but he disappeared in Bangkok a month later.
In 2014, due to a lack of evidence, the case was dropped against five men, including a senior Thai police officer accused of killing al-Ruwaili.
Saudi Arabia has not sent an ambassador to Thailand for many years and banned international travel.
Thailand is keen to rebuild its relationship with the oil-rich empire after a dispute that cost billions of dollars in trade and tourism and the loss of jobs for thousands of Thai migrants.
Kriangkrai spent five years in prison for stealing precious stones and selling many precious stones before his arrest. He later became a monk in 2016.
He said that he had turned to religion to escape bad karma.
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