"More than 20 years ago, I went to Shanghai for the first time. Only one skyscraper was there then ...But when I was on the highway from airport to downtown Shanghai during a visit in 2000, I could not believe my eyes since the whole city was surrounded by modernism," Thailand's newly elected Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej recalled his previous visits to China on Thursday at his residence in Bangkok.

It is the second day that the People Power Party (PPP) leader officially took over the premiership from former premier Surayud Chulanont who was appointed by military after a coup in 2006. Samak, leading PPP, won the general election late last year and then was elected as the 25th Prime Minister early this week.

On Thursday, Zhang Jiuhuan, China's ambassador to Thailand, delivered a congratulatory letter of China's premier Wen Jiabao to Samak, congratulating to his Thai counterpart.

Samak, a 72-year-old veteran politician who has a political career of more than 40 years, thanked premier Wen and reaffirmed that the new government will enhance the Thai-Sino relationship in every fields.

He said the Thai-Sino relations are deeply rooted and are as inseparable as relatives or brothers. He said that the Thai government paid great attention to the development of the relationship between Thailand and China.

"I am an old friend of China", said the premier. He recalled his visits to China during the past decades, saying he was always "shocked" by the quick development of various Chinese cities.

"I have been to Beijing, Shanghai, Dali, Hangzhou ... too much for me to remember. But I was always impressed by the changes of all the cities every time I went there," said Samak.

He said as the governor of Bangkok in 2000, he paid more attention to the construction of China, from city layout, to expressway construction, and also railway paving. He highly praised the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest railroad in the world which was completed in 2006.

Samak said he expects the early accomplishment of the road connecting China's Kunming to Laos' Vientiane which passes northern Thailand. He predicted that the "driving-tourism" would be enhanced after the project is finished.

"For myself, I also wish to drive to China. It must be fun", said the premier.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2008)