Overview
Thailand’s Role in the Global Community of Nations
Thailand’s caring attitude and outlook extends to our global citizenship. The Kingdom’s active role in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora stands testimony to its commitment to creating a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous world through global partnerships and commitments. Thailand’s foreign policy places priority on the country’s partnership with its immediate neighbours, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asian region as a whole. At the same time, with the changing global landscape, Thailand continues to broaden its horizon. While recognizing the importance of consolidating its ties with existing partners, the Kingdom continues to deepen and broaden its partnerships with countries in other parts of the world, including Africa, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
At the regional level, Thailand has been an active proponent of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was established in 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration. From 24 July 2008 to 31 December 2009, as the ASEAN Chair, Thailand had the responsibility of moving forward the process of greater ASEAN integration. It was during the Thai Chairmanship that the ASEAN Charter came into force on 15 December 2008, outlining the guiding principles for the new ASEAN and making it a rule-based organisation and more people-centred. The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission for Human Rights (AICHR) was set up in 2009, also while the Kingdom was at ASEAN’s helm.
Looking ahead, Thailand will continue to push for integration of the ASEAN Community by 2015. Thailand, under the “prosper thy neighbour” policy, has continued to assist its neighbours as they grapple with the challenges of economic development, which is essential for the realization of the ASEAN community. At the same time, the Kingdom attaches importance to promoting connectivity among countries in the region – both in terms of physical linkages through transportation infrastructure development as well as cultural and intellectual linkages which will enhance trust and understanding among peoples in the region. All these have been pursued through not only ASEAN, but also sub-regional cooperation frameworks such as the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and the Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).
Given the growing interdependence among nations and the global nature of security challenges, Thailand is strongly committed to multilateralism under the United Nations (UN) as a main pillar of its foreign policy and as the most effective approach to addressing global challenges. Since joining the United Nations in 1946, Thailand has been an active member of the UN and has worked in cooperation with all UN agencies both in Thailand, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world. As a responsible member of the international community, Thailand has played an active role in peace keeping operations around the world, such as in Timor Leste, Burundi, and Darfur.
Additionally, the Kingdom has worked to foster international partnerships to attain the UN Millennium Development Goals. Thailand also recognizes the importance of interfaith dialogues in this new era and has sought to build bridges across different cultures and religions to draw strength from diversity. The Kingdom envisions a globalized world of diversity and harmony, where all cultures and religions can work together to promote partnership and multilateralism in order to build a world of true peace, progress and prosperity for all.
Addressing the Global Challenges
With rising challenges of terrorism, transnational crimes, pandemics, natural disasters and other threats posed by climate change, Thailand is committed to playing an active role in working to address these global challenges, bilaterally, regionally and multilaterally, including through such fora as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Asia-Pacific Economic Community (APEC), the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) and the UN.
Human Security and Human Rights
Human security and human rights have been among the key pillars of Thailand’s policy. Thailand is a pro-active party to international human rights instruments and has already acceded to most of the key international human rights conventions. Seeking to play an active and constructive role in promoting human rights, Thailand was elected a member of the then United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 2001 to 2003, and again in May 2010, the Kingdom was elected a member of the Human Rights Council (HRC) for the years 2010-2013. Also in 2010, Thailand’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva was elected Chairman of the HRC for a one-year term.
Thailand is a founding member of the Human Security Network (HSN), an informal network of 14 like-minded countries from around the world. Since its establishment in 1999, the HSN has taken a pro-active stance in advancing different issues relating to security and well-being of all peoples. As Chair of the HSN from May 2005 to May 2006, Thailand advocated a balanced approach to human security – one aimed at striking a balance between the pursuit of freedom from want and the pursuit of freedom from fear, while taking into account perspectives from both developing and developed countries. The Kingdom continues to play its part in promoting human security through this and other fora. On 5 October 2011, Thailand presented its first national report to the 12th Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva. Thailand’s national report was the result of a broad-based consultation process involving all stakeholders. It's Thailand’s intention to use the report as a benchmark for the country’s future performance on human rights as well as a catalyst for further positive changes in the Thai society.
Terrorism
Thailand is determined to work actively with the world community to combat terrorism, particularly under the framework of the United Nations and on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly. Thailand has also been working closely with many countries to prevent international terrorism in all aspects, such as suppressing terrorist organizations and networks, cracking down on money laundering and illicit financing of terrorist activities, and enhancing immigration, civil aviation and trade security. Thailand also recognizes the importance of dealing with the root causes of terrorism, including poverty, social injustice, religious intolerance, and the existence of regional and international conflicts.
Interfaith Dialogue
Even though recent literature on terrorism suggests the decline of extremism, it remains important to continue to promote understanding among people of different faiths, encourage exchange of information, measures to build state capacity, and measures to enhance human rights and the rule of law. In addition to enhancing friendly relations among nations and people, these activities help efforts to counter terrorism. Thailand recognizes the necessity of spreading the message of peace, tolerance and harmony. Thailand’s foreign policy will continue to promote the voice of moderation to promote better understanding among the peoples of the world. Terrorism and hostility should be eradicated through understanding, friendship and co-operation. To this end, Thailand supports interfaith dialogues, such as those present in the ASEM Interfaith Dialogue and AMED.
Maritime Security
Thailand also attaches importance to the issues of piracy and maritime security. As a littoral state of the Malacca Straits, Thailand has participated in the Malacca Straits Coordinated Patrols since September 2008 and air patrols (known as Eyes in the Sky) since January 2009. Such efforts have contributed to the improvement of overall maritime safety and security in the area, as evidenced by the fact that there have been no reports of armed robbery incident in the Kingdom’s territorial waters since 2008. The Kingdom’s commitment to the international community in terms of maritime security does not end there. To fulfil its international responsibility, the Royal Thai Navy sent a Counter Piracy Task Group to join the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) during September-December 2010. On 12 July 2011, the Royal Thai Navy's anti-piracy unit with 369 naval personnel and 2 vessels was deployed for the second time to join the CMF operations off the coast of Somalia for a 140-day deployment.
Climate Change
Thailand remains committed to tackling the problem of climate change. As a non-annex I party, Thailand has seriously carried out and will be implementing various voluntary policies and measures to address both the adaptation and mitigation components. Thailand is implementing clean technology development strategy, industrial waste management, and community-based relationship. In this regard, local communities are encouraged to participate actively in environmental protection and conservation.
Food Security
As a major food exporter, Thailand is committed to working with all partners to enhance global food security. At the same time, it also stands ready to promote South-South cooperation with other developing countries, both in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere, by sharing knowledge, experience and lessons learnt in agricultural cultivation, so that others can achieve higher food production yield.
Disaster Prevention and Management
The tsunami incident of 26 December 2004 raised global awareness that, although natural disasters cannot be prevented, human lives can be saved by enhancing disaster preparedness. In this connection, Thailand has undertaken several domestic measures to achieve the goals set by the Hyogo Framework for Action, such as establishing the National Disaster Warning Centre and approving the Strategic National Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction (SNAP) 2010-2014, which aims to provide aid to affected people in case of emergency to the fullest extent possible.
Thailand stands ready to provide assistance to disaster-stricken countries, bilaterally and multilaterally. Indeed, the Kingdom was closely involved in the Tripartite Core Group involving Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN to assist Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis. The Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP), which pushes forward recovery and reconstruction, requires US$ 690 million in assistance from the international community to cover 2009-2011. During 2009, in Myanmar, one million people were provided with food aid, more than half a million children with education support, 930,000 patients with health consultation as well as distribution of 4,000 tons of rice sees and construction of 50,000 latrines. The Thai people demonstrated tremendous solidarity with the people of Haiti, which was struck by an earthquake in January 2010, by committing to a donation totalling over US$ 3 million. In addition, more than half of the pledged 20,000 metric tonnes of rice was shipped to Haiti in coordination with the World Food Programme (WFP). Later in the year, Thailand also donated US$ 75,000 as well as 30 wheelchairs (at the request of the South Asian Disability Forum) to Pakistan whose people suffered from a severe flood. Thailand stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Japan following the devastating tsunami and earthquake that struck Japan on 11 March 2011. In addition to donating a significant amount of fund as well as basic necessities such as blankets and water bottles to assist the victims, Thailand also sent the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) to Fukushima to assist victims in the disaster-stricken areas as well as two electricity generators.
Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Thailand is fully committed to supporting the process of disarmament and non-proliferation of all types of WMD and actively participates in existing multilateral frameworks. The Kingdom will continue to work closely with other countries, regionally and globally, to address the challenges relating to disarmament and non-proliferation, including the elimination of WMD.
Human Rights
For the latest updates on human rights in Thailand visit the Thailand Human Rights website.
