My relationship with the Thai people began when Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn came to visit Egypt. I took her on a tour of the pyramids, and I was very impressed by her intelligence; she truly is a smart lady. Noppadon Theppitak, Thailand’s Ambassador to Egypt, accompanied us; he is also very intelligent, and I became great friends with him.

Afterwards, the Ambassador invited me to visit Thailand. I was deeply impressed with the country and when I came back to Egypt I wrote three articles about the Thai people and their way of life. While in Thailand, I gave a public lecture and attended the opening of an I-MAX theatre in the heart of Bangkok. I also gave a very unique and private lecture to Princess Maha in the home of the Egyptian Ambassador. There, I sat beside the Princess at dinner and talked with her. I discovered that it was because of her modesty that the people of Thailand love her so much.

When I was informed that I would receive an honorary degree from a prestigious Thai university, I was happy; I often say that the monuments of Egypt belong not just to the people of Egypt, but to everyone around the world. The conferral ceremony was held in the Golden Hall of the beautiful Manial Palace, built on an island in the Nile between 1899 and 1929 for Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik. The various palace buildings are set among a vast garden containing exotic species of plants and trees from all over the world. The palace is currently being restored and turned into a museum. When it reopens visitors will be able to see original items of the Prince’s furnishings, as well as objects dating from Medieval times to the Nineteenth Century, including manuscripts, hunting trophies and clothing. There is also a great variety of decoration within the palace buildings, such as Ottoman, and European styles. The Golden Hall itself is adorned with beautiful antique crystal chandeliers.

The night of the ceremony I was very honoured to see that over twenty people had come from the university dressed in their official robes. First, Ambassador Noppadon Theppitak gave a speech, speaking of the love of the Thai people for Egypt and my meeting with Princess Maha. Then, the President of the University, Supol Wuthisen, spoke about why they were awarding me this honorary doctorate. Then I was presented with the university’s academic robes and awarded my honorary degree. Afterward, Mr. Dumrong Poottan, founder of Koosang Koosom, a magazine that sells one million copies a month, gave a speech explaining why they were giving me their Award of Recognition.

When I addressed the crowd I talked about what we in Egypt have been doing for the last seven years for our antiquities.

I talked about the new site management plans that I had initiated in order to protect monuments from all periods of Egyptian history - Pharaonic, Coptic, Jewish, and Islamic. I also talked about the nineteen new museums that we are building across Egypt – site specific museums, national museums, such as the Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, and specialist museums, such as the Mosaic Museum and Jewellery Museum in Alexandria, and the Suez Museum. I also announced that after seven years of hard work the Islamic Museum will soon be open again. There has also been a lot of work toward protecting our sites: we have been building new storage magazines, changing and educating our antiquities guards, changing Egyptian laws, and also recording the ancient monuments in detail. We have been raising the awareness of the Egyptian people, and especially kids, about their history, and continuing our efforts to return stolen artefacts back to Egypt. Then, I emphasised the importance of the training that I have given to young people. I can now say that we have good, well-trained people that can really take Egypt’s ancient monuments and protect them for the future.

I also talked about my recent important archaeological projects: our excavations in the Valley of the Kings and how these are the first fully Egyptian excavations to be carried out in the valley; about the work that I am doing in the Osiris shaft at Giza to reveal its mysteries; about the search for the secrets of the Great Pyramid; about our efforts to find new details about the family line of Tutankhamun; and how we have been using modern technology to reveal the secrets of Egypt.

I then thanked all of my friends from the Cabinet of Egypt, and especially my good friends Mostafa Fekki, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the People's Assembly; Dr. Wazir, the Governor of Cairo; Mark Linz, Director of AUC Press; Hani Helal, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; and our famous writer, Anis Mansour.

Then, after all the speeches had ended, a very interesting thing happened, something unique to Thailand’s cultural heritage - a beautiful display of traditional Thai dancing. That evening I found myself dancing with a beautiful Thai lady, and I think that everyone could see how happy and honoured I was to receive this honorary degree from the people of Thailand, a truly special and wonderful place.