I am here to pay
my country’s highest tribute to the United Nations for
the work it has done to improve the lives of people
around the world. Thailand is fully committed to what
the United Nations stands for and to realizing through
the United Nations the hopes we all share. We are also
firmly committed to fulfilling our responsibilities as
a Member of the United Nations, because the United
Nations can achieve its vision only when we act together
in unity.
This year, the theme is the post-2015 development
agenda and how to truly make a difference in the lives
of the people on the ground. Many countries have
achieved many of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). For example, they have succeeded in reducing
poverty and have achieved their education and health-
care goals. But there are many other countries for which
achieving the MDGs has not been easy. Therefore, as
we move towards the post-2015 development agenda,
we must renew our commitments to make sure that no
one is left behind.
For Thailand, development is not just about gross
domestic product. To be sustainable, development must
go hand in hand with democracy, human rights and
peace and security, the pillars of the United Nations.
It must be allowed to grow in an environment that
is free from conflict. Building a strong and robust
democracy is the challenge that many of us face. As in
many countries, Thailand has learned the lesson that
democracy is more than having elections. Democracy
must be based on respect for the rule of law, and it must
be about good governance, transparency, accountability
and equal access to justice.
That was not the case for my country before 22 May.
Before that date, we were at a political impasse. We
had a dysfunctional democracy. We were in danger of
more turmoil. And there was a very real possibility
of bloodshed. Political opposition parties were given
the chance to save democracy, but they failed because
they were unwilling to compromise for the sake of
the country. That chain of unfortunate events made
the military intervention necessary. We all wished
that things had not had to turn out that way. But if the
situation had been allowed to continue, Thailand’s
democracy would have been torn apart. That would
have undermined Thailand’s stability and the stability
of the region.
Thailand is now going through a period of transition.
We remain fully committed to democracy and human
rights, and we know we cannot go against the tide of
democracy. Thailand needs a real and functioning
democracy, one that delivers on the aspirations of
the people. Let there be no doubt that Thailand is not
retreating from democracy. But we do need time and
space to bring about reconciliation, undertake political
reform and strengthen our democratic institutions. We
do not want a repeat of what happened on 22 May.
In addition to implementing our road map for
returning to full democracy, we are also getting our
economy moving again. Confidence has returned and
growth has been restored.
Thailand is committed to playing an active role
with its partners in the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in order to build an ASEAN
community of peace and prosperity. We are committed
to working with our partners in the international
community to address the many global challenges
we face, such as climate change, transnational crime,
pandemics and human trafficking. Most of all, we are
committed to working with our partners to realize
the development agenda, because real and lasting
peace is based not on State-centred security but on
people-centred security.
Development must transform people’s lives and
open the door to a better future for all. Development
must empower individuals, communities and societies.
That lies at the heart of the sufficiency-economy
philosophy of His Majesty the King of Thailand, and
that philosophy has guided our development efforts for
decades. The sufficiency economy is about promoting
the right values, drawing on the inner strengths of each
community and building resilience from the grass-
roots level up. In doing so, we are able to lay a solid
foundation for sustainable economic development at
the national level.
But in today’s world, no nation can be an island of
prosperity unto itself. More than ever, we need a strong
global partnership, whether in order to realize the post-
2015 development agenda or to meet shared challenges.
First of all, that partnership must meet the
challenge of human security, the most pressing of our
time. Human security is about human dignity, human
rights, equity, equality and social justice, the promise
of a better future for all and ensuring that in our rush
for development we do not sacrifice the environment
that sustains us. Ensuring human security should be at
the heart of sustainable development.
But while we advance the development agenda, we
cannot ignore the immediate threats that require our
concerted action. Today we are confronted with some
immediate threats to the global partnership, such as the
Ebola crisis and the humanitarian crises in the Middle
East — Syria, Libya, Iraq and the Gaza Strip. It pains
us to witness the senseless death of civilians, especially
children, in the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The situation
demands that we work even harder to bring lasting peace
to the Palestinian people and to meet their aspirations
to statehood, as well as to affirm the legitimate right of
the Israeli people to security.
As the situation in the Middle East unfolds, we
are also deeply concerned about the rising threat
of radicalism and extremism. There can be no
justification for the brutalities and atrocities we have
seen. We must rise to that challenge to peace, to our
peoples’ livelihoods and to the gains we have made in
economic and social development. While some radical
and extremist movements have indeed been able to
draw recruits from many parts the world, their mission
is nothing more than the use of terrorism and fear of to
advance their objectives.
Our peace and security and development are
all connected. In order to achieve them, we must all
try to contribute as much as we can and to meet our
international responsibilities as best we can. Some of
us may have the capacity to do more than others. But
if we all do our part, we can make the world better and
safer. That is why Thailand has sent volunteers to its
neighbours to work in health and education and why we
sent medical teams to Japan in 2011 as part of the relief
efforts following the earthquake and tsunami.
The Thai flag and Thai personnel have been
associated with peacekeeping operations in many
places around the world. We were in Timor-Leste and
in the Sudan, and along the India-Pakistan border.
And we were part of the coalition formed to combat
piracy in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.
The role of the military, however, is not limited to war
and conflict alone. Even in times of peace it plays an
important role, especially now, when we are dealing
with many challenges such as natural disasters. That
is why Thailand is promoting humanitarian assistance
and disaster relief cooperation in the ASEAN region
and beyond. Perhaps the time has come for ASEAN to
begin to explore the idea of a regional humanitarian
assistance disaster recovery task force.
As members of the international community,
we must all share the responsibility to stay true to
the original promise of the United Nations, which
is to promote social progress and better standards of
living in larger freedom for the peoples of the world.
It is because of Thailand’s commitment to the United
Nations that we have submitted our candidature for a
seat on the Human Rights Council for the 2015-2017
term and on the Security Council for the 2017-2018
term. We hope our friends will once again give us their
trust and allow us to serve.
Whether the issue is democracy, development or
peace, we all must assume our responsibilities because
we are, after all, a family of United Nations.