Haiti’s ties to Thailand recalled

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Jovenel Moise addresses the United Nations.

Recently assassinated president of the Caribbean republic of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, was one of few Haitians to have visited Thailand. In 2017 he was awarded the Order of Brilliant Jade by the Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, and travelled to Bangkok and Taipei to receive it.



The Order is bestowed on presidents of friendly countries for their economic innovation and Moise had a background in manufacturing water plants and developing banana plantations. But the main reason for the award could be that Haiti is one of only a handful of countries which recognize the independence of Taiwan which China sees as a renegade province and threatens to take by force if necessary.



Another unlikely visitor to Thailand seems to have been Madame Max Adolphe, head of the secret police, or dreaded Tontons Macoute, under Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier who ruled Haiti from 1959 to 1986. She disappeared when the regime collapsed in 1986, but Haitian television claimed she had fled to Thailand before exiling in the United States when she was no longer in the news.


In 2010, Thailand donated US$100,000 and 20,000 tons of rice to Haiti after a devastating earthquake demolished parts of Port au Prince, the capital city. Thailand has no diplomatic presence in Haiti and the gifts were routed through the Thai embassy in Mexico City. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Americas but was the first slave-nation to win its independence from European masters (France in this case) in 1802.

Madame Max Adolphe headed Haiti’s secret police during the rule of Papa and Baby Doc.