New FM delivers strong UN speech

Sihasak highlights victims, urges dialogue

Ahead of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Sept 23–29, newly instated Foreign Affairs Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow faced criticism that his appearance there might violate the constitution, which stipulates that cabinet ministers can only assume their duties after the government policy statement is made before parliament.

But as Mr Sihasak took to the rostrum at the UN headquarters in front of international delegates, his welcome speech reflected his years as a Thai diplomat.

“Thailand made the humanitarian decision to open up our borders in the late 1970s for hundreds of thousands of Cambodians fleeing the civil war in their country to seek shelter in Thailand,” Mr Sihasak said.

“We made this decision out of compassion and humanitarian principles. As a young diplomat, I witnessed that scene myself.”

Mr Sihasak’s career began in 1979 in the Division of Public and Cultural Affairs, the ministry’s Department of Information.

He has served in many key positions, including ambassadorships to France and Japan, and he was a Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva.

He also served as President of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) from 2010 to 2011.

Mr Sihasak was born in 1957 and graduated from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science before earning a Master of Arts in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University.

As a seasoned diplomat, Mr Sihasak delivered his speech at the UN with firmness and in a timely fashion.

He noted that he had met his Cambodian counterpart Sokhonn Prak the day before he made his speech, and he said the conversation they had was different from the speech that the Cambodian official later delivered to the UN.

“Yesterday … we talked about peace, dialogue, mutual trust and confidence … but unfortunately, what was said today by the Cambodian side was completely opposite,” said Mr Sihasak.

He mentioned the “real victims” of the Thai-Cambodian conflict — Thai soldiers who have lost their legs from landmines, children whose schools were shelled, and innocent civilians shopping that day at the convenience store that was hit by a Cambodian rocket.

Despite having only four months in office, Mr Sihasak has a vast array of issues to manage, including balancing Thailand’s relations with China and the United States, as well as crafting a path towards sustainable peace and cooperation with Cambodia.

“Thailand chooses the path of peace because we believe that the people of both countries deserve no less,” he said at the UN event.