On 13 July 2009, a group of Thai Muslims and Buddhists paid a courtesy call on Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Foreign Ministry. The group of 15 Thai Muslims and Buddhists — community leaders, students, youths and local officials from the southern border provinces — had recently returned from the interfaith study visit to Australia organized by the Ministry.
FM Kasit said that one of the Ministry’s missions is to open up opportunities for Thai Muslims and Buddhists in the South to observe multicultural communities abroad. The group said that Australia had succeeded in fostering an environment of peaceful coexistence among different religious groups, along with a unified education system. Thanks to the Australian government’s multicultural policy, minority groups do not feel like second-class citizens. The group felt that many lessons from the visit can be adapted to Thai society. The foreign minister encouraged the group to make use of the budgets from the central government and local administration by initiating projects that would be useful to the southern border provinces.
The interfaith study visit to Australia was part of a project to enhance the potential and role of community leaders in the southern border provinces. The project has been ongoing for three consecutive years by the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs in collaboration with the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC).
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