Thailand

The attachment that Thailand has had to the ideals and principles that gave birth to the United Nations is long, enduring and natural. From the very first day in this family of nations more than 60 years ago, Thailand, or Siam at that time, made known to all that we stood for peace, for freedom and for tolerance, because peace, freedom and tolerance are part of our national character — a part of who we are. Today, our commitment to peace, freedom and tolerance anywhere and everywhere remains unwavering, and it will remain so. Therefore, I warmly congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, a man of peace, freedom and tolerance, on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. His cause is our cause, and he can rest assured that the Thai delegation will give him its full support and cooperation. We are living in a world of enormous opportunities for progress. But we are also living in a world that is in a state of flux, a world that is drifting from one crisis to another. The information technology revolution and transportation advancements have brought people from all corners of the world closer together than ever before. We are now living in a global village, but, sadly, this village is not united as one. This village is deeply divided along political, economic, social, racial, religious and cultural lines. That is not sustainable; it is not healthy. It should not be allowed to go on. All of us have a stake in this. We must not take those divisions for granted or as a given, because they are not. We need to reclaim the ideal that brought us together in this place: the ideal of “We the peoples”. We need to cultivate and nurture a “we” feeling among us. We must try our best to focus on what binds us together rather than on what keeps us apart. We must be fully aware that to continue to see the world through the glasses of “us versus them” can only lead to confrontation. And confrontation helps no one, because, at the end of the day, in this interconnected globalized world, no one wins everything, but everyone can lose everything. As Mahatma Gandhi once admonished, “An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind”. We have a choice between progress and self- destruction, between cooperation and confrontation, and between amity and animosity. The choice is for all of us to make, and the choice is clear. There is no better alternative to progress, cooperation and amity among nations and peoples. The Thai people have made their choice. It is for democracy. The challenge now in Thailand, as in other countries around the world, is to find the right balance between the political culture and the desire for democratic ideals. Nurturing a democratic culture in any country takes time and requires an appreciation of the fact that it is an evolutionary process in which ups 08-53141 28 and downs are to be expected. Thailand’s democratic evolution is no exception. What is unique about the present state of political evolution in Thailand is the consistent expression of our national character: we stand for peace, for freedom and for tolerance. Indeed, Thai political developments have made a lot of headlines lately. But we trust that good eyes and informed minds will not mistake recent events for the trajectory of a nation. Thai people are resilient people. The Thai society is a resilient society. And Thai people and Thai society are determined to move ahead along the democratic path. The world has made a choice with respect to development. That choice is embodied in the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We are now midway towards 2015, the target year for their realization. While there have been many remarkable and encouraging success stories of progress so far — in reducing poverty, hunger and disease, to name a few — there are also unremarkable and discouraging stories of setbacks. For far too many countries, the realization of the MDGs by 2015 has become increasingly difficult to achieve. Thailand therefore is pleased to see the international community coming together as one in its determination to work harder to help people in each and every country enjoy the fruits of developmental progress and well-being. To help one another to have a better life is a moral imperative as well as a practical necessity. Can anyone afford to live happily and sleep soundly on an island of opulence in the middle of a sea of poverty and despair? Certainly, the answer is no. It is after all in the enlightened self-interest of every country to ensure that the MDG targets are met — as many and as soon as possible. Our unity as “We the peoples” is all the more important in the face of the perfect storm that is the global oil crisis, food crisis and financial crisis. These multiple crises threaten to derail the achievements of the MDGs or even to undo hard-won gains of the past in many countries. Developing countries need stability and security in the world energy market. Every dollar hike resulting from speculation on oil price futures being traded on futures market floors means development costs for the Governments of developing countries and affects the livelihoods of ordinary people around the world. But in every crisis, there exists an opportunity. The exponential rise in oil prices has made it necessary for countries to adapt their patterns of consumption and to rethink their energy security strategies. The global oil crisis has not spared Thailand: our people have been adversely affected by the skyrocketing oil prices in almost every aspect of their lives. At the same time, Thailand has learned to adapt and adjust. Energy efficiency and the development of alternative energy sources, such as liquefied gas, biofuels and gasohol, are now being pursued with greater urgency. Because of the global oil crisis, more and more vehicles in Thailand today have been shifted to various sources of alternative energy. This market for alternative energy is booming in Thailand and across Asia. There is so much potential in this market, and Thailand stands ready to work together with our friends from around the world in all endeavours pertaining to research in and development of alternative energy. Developing countries need stability and security in the world food market. In addressing these challenges, we should not forget that the current food crisis has had multiple causes, such as the global oil crisis, drought and flooding. To be effective, any attempt to address this world food crisis must be comprehensive and concerted. It must look at the short- term imperative of keeping the supply flowing in the world market while working towards the longer-term imperative of stabilizing food prices and enhancing productivity. As a rice bowl of the world, Thailand will continue to ensure a constant supply to the world rice market. We will continue to work with other countries to enhance productivity and ensure food security. In the past, we had an industrial revolution and an information technology revolution. Now, we believe, is the time for the next revolution: a green revolution. We will continue to work with countries around the world to ensure an open international food market and establish agricultural trade rules that help the world’s poor farmers and shore up food security in developing countries. To that end, the Doha Development Round should resume as soon as possible. Developing countries also need stability and security in the world financial markets. The current turmoil in the world financial markets, if not effectively addressed soon, threatens to cause 29 08-53141 widespread economic downturns than could push millions below the poverty line and severely affect the achievement of the MDGs. To have the world financial crisis piling on top of the world energy and food crises is the last thing that people in the developing countries want to see. That is particularly true for people in Thailand and across Asia. Our painful experience has taught us how phenomena such as those that started off as a financial crisis in 1997 can spiral into a multifaceted crisis that drove millions of people into abject poverty and despair, strained the social fabric of societies and created social tensions that developed into political ones. We who lived through those dark days do not want to see a repeat of this type of crisis again. All countries therefore have a high stake in the current financial turmoil. We must work together, and quickly, to arrest the downward spiralling effects before it is too late. Besides the perfect storm of this year’s world energy, food and financial crises, South-East Asia has witnessed a massive storm in the form of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar in May. Nargis was the most devastating cyclone ever to hit Myanmar. Many lives were lost and many livelihoods were severely affected. But Nargis was not an isolated case. In the past few years, we have witnessed a changing climate pattern that has produced successive monster storms and severe weather in all corners of the world. Ice at the North and South Poles is melting at a frightening speed. Sea level is rising steadily and threatens to engulf low-lying areas around the world. Drought has increased, and many areas, once arable, have turned into desert. We can no longer turn our eyes away from the gathering threats posed by climate change. These threats recognize no political boundaries. Large and small, powerful and weak, we are all bound together by our common vulnerability and a common destiny as residents of planet Earth. We therefore have a collective responsibility on this issue. The choice is clear and has been made. When the world gathered to discuss climate change at the Bali Conference in December last year, the world chose collective responsibility over collective irresponsibility. Thailand will spare no effort to work actively with all parties to ensure that the journey that started under the Bali road map last year can be realized at the Copenhagen conference scheduled for next year. This is a critical time that requires critical action by all parties. Time is simply not on our side. There is a saying that, in every storm, every cloud has a silver lining. That is true for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Thailand is a member. Faced with the challenge of the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, ASEAN had to make a choice between doing nothing and losing its credibility, or doing something and being seen as a force to be reckoned with. ASEAN chose the latter. Acting as a bridge between Myanmar and the international community, ASEAN has successfully forged a working tripartite partnership between ASEAN, Myanmar and the United Nations. That partnership has continued to work effectively to this day and could serve as a model for future humanitarian partnerships in other parts of the world. Through that process, ASEAN has once again proven its effectiveness and resilience. ASEAN has also made another choice — an important and profound one. ASEAN is moving towards being a rules-based and people-centred organization, with the signing of the ASEAN Charter this past year. The upcoming fourteenth ASEAN Summit will take place in Bangkok under the theme “ASEAN Charter for ASEAN peoples” to mark a new era for ASEAN, with people at the heart of our cooperation. As Chairman of ASEAN, Thailand has launched a “three Rs” campaign. First, we want to realize the purposes and vision of the Charter. That includes the realization of an ASEAN human rights body, one of the new organs envisaged in our Charter. Secondly, we will revitalize the people-centred nature of our community in order to enhance their participation in building an ASEAN community. Thirdly, we will reinforce ASEAN cooperation to better contribute to the well-being of our peoples, especially in the areas of human development and security. Thailand will carry forward the work of the previous ASEAN Chair, Singapore, to realize the dream of the ASEAN founding fathers of transforming South-East Asia from a community of good neighbours into one ASEAN community, where the feeling of “we the peoples of ASEAN” takes root. The world will benefit from having a more rules-based, effective, predictable and people-centred ASEAN as a partner. Through greater integration with the regional countries 08-53141 30 in Asia, ASEAN can become a natural bridge that connects China and India, the two emerging global economic centres of the twenty-first century, with a combined market size of billions of people. We believe that it is not too much or too far-fetched to see a new, modern silk road passing through ASEAN. Allow me to conclude the same way I started. We need to reclaim the ideals of “We the peoples of the United Nations” in order to work together, to resolve our common problems and to survive. It has never been more imperative for the Members of this Organization to put aside for a moment our narrow self-interest and come together to forge solutions that are in the interest of us all. The United Nations can only be what the collective membership wishes it to be. “We the peoples of the United Nations” have a choice to make. Let what one astronaut gazing at planet Earth from a space station once said serve to remind us all of our collective responsibility: “For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.”