On 2 February 2009, Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with heads of six key international organisations in Geneva, namely 1) Mrs. Kyung-wha Kang, Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2) Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), 3) Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 4) Mrs. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), 5) Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General of UNCTAD and 6) Mr.Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
In his meeting with Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Kang, the FM stated that Thailand would promote respect for human rights within the ASEAN Community and fully supported the ASEAN human rights body. Acting High Commissioner Kang expressed admiration for Thailand’s leading role on human rights and appreciated Thailand’s close collaboration with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in both Geneva and Bangkok. The two sides also discussed the human rights situation in Myanmar, illegal immigrants in Thailand and the situation in the Southern Border Provinces.
In his meeting with WTO Director-General Lamy, FM Kasit informed the Director-General that Thailand, as ASEAN Chair, would request the ASEAN member countries to jointly push for the successful outcome of the Doha Round negotiation. On the impact of the current financial crisis, Thailand would use various fora to raise the issue of how to revive the economies in the region as well as how to boost the trade potential of Asia.
In his meeting with ICRC President Kellenberger, both sides discussed collaboration between Thai security officials and ICRC representatives and the possibility of ICRC’s setting up an office in Southern Thailand. FM Kasit took the opportunity to inform the ICRC President that the Thai Government has transferred authority for addressing the situation in the South from the civil service to the executive branch.
Later during his meeting with WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, FM Kasit expressed Thailand’s readiness to cooperate closely with the WHO, while pointing out that the Kingdom’s foreign affairs has long incorporated the public health dimension, e.g. providing medical assistance to patients from neighbouring countries along the country’s border and south-south cooperation with African countries. WHO Director-General Chan was of the view that Thailand has played a widely accepted role in the circle of international public health. Director-General Chan also said that WHO would be pleased to cooperate with Thailand regarding the latter’s plan to host a regional public health forum this July.
During his meeting with UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai, FM Kasit stated that Thailand stood ready to cooperate with the organisation in the area of alternative energy in addition to food security and south-south cooperation. The foreign minister also offered his view that UNCTAD, as a leading knowledge-based agency, should expand the circulation of its reports and the coverage of its topics to include issues important to Thailand and ASEAN as well as to organise a forum to address the current financial crisis.
In the evening, FM Kasit met United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Guterres to discuss the issues of displaced persons in the Southeast Asian region including illegal Laotian Hmong immigrants and Myanmese displaced persons and workers. On the issue of Rohingya illegal migrants, FM Kasit affirmed Thailand’s adherance to humanitarian and human rights principles in dealing with them while Mr. Guterres responded that the problem was a complicated regional issue, which required a comprehensive solution and the participation of all concerned countries.
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