BANGKOK: Thailand’s celebrity baby panda Lin Ping is almost 4 years old now. It’s time to move to China, find a mate and have cubs. The move won’t be permanent, however, thanks to a deal hammered out between the two countries that will cost Thailand $ 1 million a year, the Thai foreign minister said yesterday.
Once the star of a Thai reality show, the panda’s future has been a topic of high-level negotiation for months. Last year, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asked then-Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to consider extending the panda’s loan contract which ends on its 4th birthday, May 27. A breakthrough was announced yesterday, when the Chinese Embassy informed Thai authorities that Lin Ping can stay in Thailand until October, said Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul.
Lin Ping will then relocate to China where he will be allowed to return to Thailand to mate, he said.
Celebrity panda at center of Thai-China deal
