On 8 May 2026, Ms. Arunee Hiam, Deputy Director-General of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), attended and delivered the opening remarks at the KOICA Partner Organizations Workshop 2026, organized by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Thailand Office. Mr. Nam Hyuk Kim, Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Thailand, and Ms. Jiheh Chun, Country Director of KOICA Thailand Office, also delivered welcoming remarks to representatives from 18 Thai educational institutions. The event was held at Jubilee Prestige Hotel.

The Deputy Director-General of TICA expressed her gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Korea and KOICA Thailand for their significant role in Thailand’s development cooperation efforts, particularly the World Friends Korea (WFK) program, which has continued for 31 years. The volunteers have contributed greatly to strengthening people-to-people relations and closer ties between the two countries. She also highlighted the importance of bilateral and trilateral cooperation between Thailand and the Republic of Korea in addressing global challenges such as climate change, education, and public health.

The workshop aimed to promote integration and collaborative work between Korean volunteers (WFK) and Thai host organizations, as well as to introduce guidelines for cooperation, enhance mutual understanding, explain KOICA’s transparency and anti-corruption policies, and present the WFK Mid-term Strategy 2026–2028 to relevant Thai agencies and institutions.