“The Portuguese and Siam and its South East Asia Context – Revisited” A talk by H.E. Dr Jorge Torres-Pereira
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In 1961, the then ‘Chargé d’Affaires’ of Portugal in Thailand, Mr Inácio Rebello de Andrade used his spare time in Bangkok to write down a 92 pages essay on the Portuguese presence in Siam which he called “Os Portugueses e o Sião no Contexto da Península da Indochina” (The Portuguese and Siam in the context of the Indochina Peninsula). His preoccupation throughout his text was to underline the links between events in Siam and what was occurring at the time in the neighbouring countries.
The original typescript of that essay is preserved at the Siam Society’s Library where it was found, fifty years later, by the diplomatic colleague who in his talk proposes to revisit the theme and underlying approach. Contemporary research on historiography has brought deeper knowledge on the Portuguese presence in what is now commonly referred to as South East Asia, although with an inevitable compartmentalizing (Arakan or Pegu experts are not necessarily into Tonkin or Cambodia historiography; or Siam scholars that interested on the Bay of Bengal). With an emphasis on networks rather than the ‘territoriality’ of Portuguese presence and a healthy laid back attitude towards Empire, to depict these pioneering contacts of Europeans with South East Asia in its full context deserves a try.
Dr. Jorge Torres-Pereira is the current Ambassador of Portugal to Thailand. A graduate magna cum laude of the Lisbon Medical School, in 1980, he went on to join the Portuguese Diplomatic Service in 1987. As a career diplomat he served in London, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Madrid and Ramallah. Although his areas of expertise have been somehow removed from Asia (He lectured on Middle East at the National Defence College, Lisbon and has made contributions to seminars on European Identity, on Russia and European Security, and on Dialogue of Civilizations), he has been immersed full time on “Portuketology” (Portuguese in Asia) since his arrival to Bangkok at the end of 2010, with a brief to energize the Commemorations of 500 Years of Diplomatic Relations between Thailand and Portugal. He sustained for a number a years the blog “PraiaGrande” where he could elaborate, in English, on his cultural pursuits and has timidly started “Thaylandias”, a blog in Portuguese about his current endeavors. He likes to point out that he was for a brief period the Editor of a literary journal, the “CintraAtlántico”.
Free admission for the evening
Reception: 7:00 p.m.
Date: 26 January 2012 (Thursday)
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Place: The Siam Society, 131 Asoke Montri Rd, Sukhumvit 21
Non-members donation: B200. Siam Society members, members’ spouses and children, and all students showing valid student ID cards are admitted free of charge. For more information, please contact Khun Arunsri at 0 2661 6470-7 ext 126, fax 0 2258 3491, or e-mail info@siam-society.org. Office Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 9:00am. – 5:00pm.
The Siam Society is deeply grateful to the James H.W. Thompson Foundation for its generous support of the 2011-2012 Lecture Series.