Ambassador together with officials of the Royal Thai Embassy attended an opening ceremony of the Project “Ethical Nuad Thai Business: Malmo Model”

          On 28 November 2021, Ambassador Kanchana Patarachoke together with officials of the Royal Thai Embassy attended an opening ceremony of the Project “Ethical Nuad Thai Business: Malmo Model,” organised by the Thai Women in Sweden Empowerment Project (ThaiWISE) at Good Morning Hotel, Malmo. Also in attendance were Ms. Carina Nilsson, Malmo City Council Chair, Ms. Anne Marbrandt, CEO, NyföretagarCentrum Öresund, ThaiWISE members and representatives of 9 Thai massage salons who have completed the training course on ethical Nuad Thai (traditional Thai massage) business.

          In her joint opening remarks, Ambassador Kanchana emphasised that the Embassy attaches high importance to Nuad Thai entrepreneurs in Sweden, which are around 1,000 salons nationwide. The Ambassador thanked ThaiWISE for initiating this important project in collaboration with Malmo Commun and NyföretagarCentrum Öresund to organise a training course for representatives of 9 Thai massage salons in Malmo on relevant laws and regulations on how to run a massage salon in Sweden. The Embassy also provided financial support for the project, including ThaiWISE’s website and materials on Nuad Thai. Representatives of the 9 salons also received a certificate for completing the training and a logo certifying an ethical Nuad Thai business from Malmo Commun.

          The participants also learnt about the art of Nuad Thai from Holistic Thai Sappaya Acedemy from Germany and heard a story of how Nuad Thai came to Malmo from Ms. Nonglak Yothasak, one of the Nuad Thai business pioneers in Malmo. Ambassador Kanchana also joined a press conference about the Project with ThaiWISE, Malmo Commun and NyföretagarCentrum Öresund.

          The Embassy thanks ThaiWISE, Malmo Commun and NyföretagarCentrum Öresund for making the project a success and hopes that this Malmo model can be replicated in other cities in Sweden so that Nuad Thai entrepreneurs will have a knowledge on how to successfully and legally run a business in Sweden. The Embassy will continue to work with all partners to support Nuad Thai, which was inscribed in 2019 as UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

(Photo credit: ThaiWISE)