Strengthening Buddhist Heritage Diplomacy: Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Thailand Delivers a Lecture at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University
The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to UNESCAP in Bangkok, Wijayanthi Edirisinghe, was invited to deliver a lecture on “Guardians of the Dhamma: The Role of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Anagarika Dharmapala’s Pioneering Efforts to Preserve Buddhagaya” at the Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, one of Thailand’s foremost centres of Buddhist higher education on 17 March 2026.
Ambassador Hosts Ms. Sri Lanka 2025 to Promote Cultural and Creative Collaboration Between Sri Lanka and Thailand
The Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to Thailand, Wijayanthi Edirisinghe, recently hosted Ms. Sri Lanka 2025, Prathiba Liyanarachchi, at the Official Residence of the Ambassador in Bangkok. The meeting was attended by members of the Embassy staff and several Sri Lankan ladies residing in Thailand.
Joining as a speaker at the Plenary Session on ‘Voices for Solutions to the Plastic Pollution Conundrum’ at the invitation of the UN Environment Regional Office in Bangkok, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to UNESCAP, Ambassador (Mrs.) Samantha K. Jayasuriya pledged on Sri Lanka’s continued commitment to encourage more private public partnerships and multi-stakeholder engagements for innovative solutions for plastic pollution, including producing micro filaments for cleaning tools, yarns for apparels such as the T20 Cricket Gear, Galle Dialogue T-Shirts from plastic wastes, promoting circular economy.
Ambassador Jayasuriya attended the networking breakfast earlier in the day with Helen Ågren, Ambassador for the Ocean, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the opening session of the Day – 4 which was graced by the H.E. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand, who shared insights on the urgency of addressing the marine plastic pollution and explained actions by Thailand.
Further speaking at the plenary session on voices for solutions to the plastic pollution conundrum, Ambassador Jayasuriya also said Sri Lanka will take action to fully implement the 2017 policy initiative of banning selected polythene and polythene products, and to expand the ‘Beach Park Programme’ currently covering 90 kms long stretch of beaches that was assigned to families living around, to clean and handover the plastic wastes to recyclers.
SEA of Solutions 2019 showcased 29 exhibitors, where Sri Lankan researcher from the Asian Institute of Technology, Dr. Kavinda Gunasekara displayed the ongoing project on developing plastic leakage scenarios in the Mekong River basin using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing technologies. A short video on the story of making the official jersey for Sri Lanka Cricket T- 20 out of the recycled marine plastic wastes by MAS Holdings (Eco Spindle), and the partnership with Sri Lanka Navy was also displayed at the exhibition. Ms. Saritha Ranatunga, Second Secretary coordinated Sri Lanka’s Participation at the pledging event with the support of the Marine Plastic Prevention Authority (MEPA) of Sri Lanka and the Ocean Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UNESCAP Bangkok
Embassy of Sri Lanka in Bangkok,Thailand.