 Academics and human rights groups raised the issue of the very close ties between the two countries, both financially and between the two royal families.According to Dr Aim Sinpeng, an expert in South-East Asian politics at the University of Sydney, the Thai and Bahraini royal families have always had a close relationship and the Bahraini royal family visits Thailand every year.Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Surapong Tovichakchaikul said in 2012 that the relationship between Thailand and Bahrain “was very close and strong” and also disclosed that the Bahrain Prime Minister was a “close personal friend” of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and had “donated roughly $2 million of his own money” to Thailand for flood relief.