On 23 September 2009, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya accompanied Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to attend the opening of the General Debate of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York.
In the afternoon, the Thai Foreign Minister took part in the High-Level Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of UNSG on Myanmar (GoF) chaired by Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General. The participants, comprising Foreign Ministers or high-level representatives from 15 countries and the European Commission, expressed their appreciation and support to the good offices undertaken by the United Nations and Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, Special Advisor to the UNSG on Myanmar. They stressed that the general election to be held by the Myanmar government in 2010 has to be free, fair and inclusive. Prior to the GoF, Foreign Minister had a bilateral meeting to exchange views on the issue with Mr. Gambari as well.
Foreign Minister Kasit also met with Mr. Eric Schwartz, Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Both sides exchanged views on the issues of Laotian Hmongs and displaced persons from Myanmar who illegally entered into Thailand and whom Thailand has provided humanitarian assistance at the temporary shelter areas. In that same afternoon, he also participated in the Ministerial Meeting of the Human Security Network (HSN) which Thailand was one of the founding members.
Later in the evening, Foreign Minister Kasit had a meeting with Ms. Farah Pandith, US Special Representative for Muslim Communities for US State Department, to exchange views on Muslim engagement. Foreign Minister Kasit shared Thailand’s experience on the matter.
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