During 16 — 17 October 2010, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, led the delegation of the Diplomatic Corps from nine countries, namely, Bahrain, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Italy, Egypt, Australia, and Japan, to visit the Southern border provinces. The visit was aimed at clarifying the delegation on the current situation in the South as well as seeking opportunities for future cooperation in the field of socio-economic development. During the trip, the foreign Ambassadors had also met with local officials, leaders of the communities, as well as local villagers, and visited local public facilities and services.
On 16 October 2010, Foreign Minister Kasit along with the delegation received a briefing from Mr. Bhanu Uthairat, Director of the Southern Border Province Administration Center, on the progress of its work on the development of the region. The delegation discussed with members of the Narathiwas Islamic Committee at Narathiwas Central Mosque. Both sides shared the view that education was fundamental for the sustainable development and agreed to promote cooperation in educational development.
The delegation later visited the Thairath Vittaya 10 School, Muang District, Narathiwas Province, one of the schools which have taken part in the Bilingual Project (Thai-Malaya) run by the Institute of Asian Linguistic and Cultural Research, Mahidol University. This project aims at improving the effectiveness of the academic system in the four Southern border provinces by introducing the Malay dialect (the most-commonly used language in the area) to the curricular together with the Thai language in order to achieve a multi-lingual system in the Southern border provinces. The group then visited Narathiwas Hospital to receive a briefing on the public health system as well as to express support to the local public health officers.
On 17 October 2010, the delegation traveled to Ban Kokko, Muang District, Narathiwas Province, to meet local villagers and visit the Mobile Medical Unit Project of the Internal Security Command Region 4 Forward Command and Narathiwas Task Force. They also visited the Center of Development Education Phi-Kun-Thong under H.M. Patronage. The Ambassadors expressed special interest in the Center’s work on the development of bug soils and acid soils.
Lieutenant General Udomchai Thammasaroraj hosted luncheon for the delegation at C.S. Hotel, Pattani, before the visit to Ban Parae, Barahom Sub-District, Muang District, Pattani to meet the community leaders and members of the local administration.
In this occasion, the delegation expressed their gratitude to Foreign Minister Kasit for providing them with this opportunity to gain first-hand experience on the current situation in the South. They agreed that the situation has been greatly improved that the locals can now live their lives in normalcy. They also reiterated that the importance of education development both in providing more opportunities for young generations and capacity building for teachers, will be the key in improving living standard in the area. The country members of the delegation are willing to cooperate with the Thai government on this issue.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th