Thailand, 2003

At the outset, I

would like to join the international community in

paying tribute to the late Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello,

all United Nations personnel who lost their lives and

those wounded by the terrorist attack on the United

Nations headquarters in Baghdad. We strongly

condemn that cowardly terrorist attack and reaffirm our

commitment to supporting the United Nations in

paving the way for the stability, security and

sovereignty of Iraq.

On behalf of the Government and people of

Thailand, I wish to extend my sincere congratulations

to Mr. Julian Hunte of Saint Lucia upon his election to

the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-

eighth session. I am confident that, under his wise and

exemplary leadership, this session, held at such a

difficult time, will lead to a fruitful conclusion. I also

wish to take this opportunity to commend his

predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, whose tireless efforts have

steered the United Nations along a constructive path

during a year of difficult challenges.

This session meets at a most critical juncture or,

as the Secretary-General put it in his address: “We have

come to a fork in the road” (A/58/PV.7). This road was

meant to build a multilateral system to ensure a better

world for the human race. It is at this critical juncture

that the threats and challenges to multilateralism of the

past 12 months have underscored, more than ever, that

in order to collectively confront these threats and

challenges to global peace, security and prosperity, the

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world cannot do without multilateralism. But, as

echoed by many from this rostrum, the big question is:

how?

As the foremost multilateral institution, the

United Nations needs to carry out its mission in the

context of these realities. The Secretary-General has

expounded his far-sighted initiative for the proposed

reforms of the institutions and the establishment of a

high-level panel of eminent personalities. Thailand

lends its support to the Secretary-General’s noble

endeavour and hopes that, during the next session, he

will come up with a proposal that will take us on the

right path.

Many different views, agreements and

disagreements have been expressed in this Hall in this

general debate. This illustrates that the international

community must learn to live with and be tolerant of

differences. We may differ in culture, religion and

values, but our differences and diversities must not

become the sources of hostility. They must be a source

of our combined strength to enhance partnership and

multilateralism. We believe that the promotion of true

partnership and human security will help the United

Nations mission in fulfilling its noble goals.

From Timor-Leste to Sierra Leone and Bosnia

and Herzegovina, the international community can be

proud of forging partnership in peacekeeping

operations under the framework of the United Nations.

Thailand is proud to be one of the 89 countries

participating in United Nations peacekeeping

operations and wishes to reiterate its commitment to

continuing this partnership wherever and whenever

needed through its participation in the United Nations

standby arrangements system. For its part, Thailand

remains firmly committed to supporting United Nations

reconstruction and peace-building efforts, as we have

done in the past in Timor-Leste and Afghanistan.

Thailand has already contributed $250,000 to Iraq

through the International Committee of the Red Cross

and is committed to providing another $500,000 for

dried halal food. Military construction engineers and

medical personnel are also being dispatched to Iraq to

provide further humanitarian assistance. We hope that

peace can eventually reign in the region.

No one deserves peace, stability and a prosperous

future more than the peoples of the Middle East. Far

too long have the people of that region suffered from

violence, acts of terror and despair. We call upon the

international community to come together in

addressing this problem. All sides must seize the

opportunity to embark on the road towards a just and

comprehensive peace so that the people of Israel and

the people of Palestine can at last live in peace,

security and harmony.

Terrorism spares no one, strong or weak, rich or

poor. To succeed against terrorism, there is no other

way but to be united. The Government of Thailand has

worked very closely with the international community

to rid the world of this scourge. Domestic legislation

has been amended in order to enable Thailand to cope

with terrorist activities and to suppress the financing of

terrorism more effectively. We take no second chances

in our fight against international terrorism.

As freedom from fear and freedom from want are

the two major components of human security, it is clear

that human security cannot be achieved simply because

a country wants to do it all alone. Rather, human

security is achieved because all countries decide to do

it all together. It is achieved because countries are

willing to forge a partnership out of their differences to

build strength for human security.

That is why Thailand considers its membership of

the Human Security Network an important partnership

strength, complementary to the core values of the

United Nations for the promotion of peace and security,

economic and social development, human rights,

humanitarian affairs and international law. Only two

weeks ago, Thailand was proud and honoured to have

hosted the Fifth Meeting of States Parties to the

Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,

Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and

on Their Destruction. It was the first time this Meeting

has come to Asia, where land mines are a threat to the

security of hundreds of millions of people. Throughout

our presidency of the Convention until the first review

conference in November 2004, Thailand will do its

utmost to ensure much further achievements and

considerable progress in the core objectives of the

Convention: mine clearance, victim assistance,

stockpile destruction and universal acceptance of the

Convention.

Across the continent, as one of only three Asian

partners for cooperation with the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe, Thailand seeks to

build bridges between Asia, especially the Association

of Southeast Asian Nations, and Europe. We believe

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that not despite our differences in cultural and social

values, but because of those differences, Asia and

Europe will learn the art of living together, creating a

world of human security.

Narcotic drugs and pandemics transcend all

borders and become as much of a threat to human

security as terrorism. Like terrorism, decisive and

resolute partnership actions at all levels are required to

tackle these global problems to achieve sustainable

development.

The Thai Government has declared war against

narcotic drugs since taking office in February 2001.

This year, we made it the peak of our campaign. Our

battle against the scourge of drug production and

trafficking, especially methamphetamines, must be all

but comprehensive. Within the permit of the law, we

have mounted an integrated strategic campaign,

incorporating prevention, treatment and rehabilitation,

and suppression. We hope to be able to declare a total

victory by the end of the year.

We have forged a more effective partnership with

our neighbours and beyond to overcome this global

scourge once and for all. This past June, Thailand

hosted a five-nation meeting comprising Thailand,

China, India, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

and Myanmar to discuss combating transnational

crimes, including the issue of drug trafficking.

Furthermore, Thailand is also forging partnership at the

global level by working hand in hand with the United

Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as a partner with

shared responsibility to counter drugs and crime in the

global context.

Just as drugs tear at the social fabric of societies,

diseases such as HIV/AIDS cripple human resources

across the globe. Thailand commends the convening of

the high-level plenary on HIV/AIDS on 22 September.

We support the ongoing efforts undertaken within the

framework of the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria. We also remain steadfast in

our partnerships with neighbouring countries,

particularly the Greater Mekong subregion, as well as

with related United Nations agencies, to help tackle the

global challenge posed by HIV/AIDS. As host of the

Fifteenth International AIDS Conference in July 2004,

we look forward to high-level representation of the

world community to share the experiences, as well as

to forging strong partnerships and cooperation to build

a united global front to deal with this pandemic.

With regard to Severe Acute Respiratory

Syndrome (SARS) — the disease that crippled many

countries and affected the tourist industry so badly

throughout the world this year — we found that only

the prompt response and commitment of ASEAN and

the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

partnership enabled us to keep the pandemic under

control and quell the panic and fear, which were worse

than the disease itself.

The non-traditional security threats of HIV/AIDS,

SARS and narcotic drugs — “soft threats”, in the

words of the Secretary-General — demonstrate once

again that no matter what differences each country or

region may have, international cooperation and

partnership are crucial in order to combat both

traditional and non-traditional challenges to human

security.

Guided by the principle of deriving partnership

strength from diversity, Thailand has embarked on

various initiatives to bridge socio-economic disparities

at the regional and subregional levels with a view to

enhancing peace and prosperity. The Asia Cooperation

Dialogue (ACD), which is only in its second year of

existence but already comprises 22 Asian countries,

representing East, West, South, North and Central Asia,

is a prime example. Within one year of its inception,

the ACD had achieved considerable progress with

regard to various cooperation programmes, even in the

area of financial cooperation. The second ACD

Ministerial Meeting in June this year adopted the

Chiang Mai Declaration on Asian Bond Market

Development. The Asian bond market has been

heralded as the new financial architecture for the

“world of differences”.

Thailand continues to work for partnership based

on diversity and difference so as to promote socio-

economic development among nations. Given the

economic disparity among our immediate neighbours,

the economic cooperation strategy initiated by the

Prime Minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, is the most

recent partnership aimed at narrowing the economic

gap between Thailand, Cambodia, the Lao People’s

Democratic Republic and Myanmar, with a view to

generating employment and income based on

comparative advantage and mutual benefits. It will

complement other bilateral and regional cooperative

frameworks, and serve as a building block towards

advancing ASEAN economic integration.

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Thailand has chosen the theme, “A World of

Differences: Partnership for the Future”, for the 2003

meeting of the economic leaders of APEC, scheduled

to take place in Thailand in October. The convening of

that APEC leaders’ meeting reflects the belief that,

despite the diversity and differences that exist

throughout the region, there is unlimited benefit and

potential that can be tapped through effective

partnership. The meeting will discuss five sub-themes:

a knowledge-based economy; the promotion of human

security; financial architecture for a world of

differences; small and medium enterprises; and action

on development pledges. In addition, we will focus on

the issue of counter-terrorism with a view to promoting

economic stability in the Asia-Pacific region and

beyond. The choice of those sub-themes shows that,

despite the differences among APEC economies,

partnerships on those issues can be forged for the

benefit of the region and of the world.

Last year, at the fifty-seventh session, I gave a

comprehensive account of Thailand’s dual-track

strategy to attain steady economic growth with social

equity. Before concluding, I would like this morning to

report to the Assembly on the success of our efforts to

create economic and social partnership. That success is

the result of combining the diverse strengths of both

the grass-roots economy and the export-led business

sector as engines of growth. We are confident that our

economy rests on a secure and firm foundation that will

lead us along the path of economic growth and

sustainable development.

Last year, the Thai economy registered a 5.3 per

cent growth in gross domestic product, which was

followed by 6.7 percent growth in the first quarter of

this year. That is our best economic performance since

the 1997 crisis. On 31 July, Thailand paid back all of

its International Monetary Fund loans in full — two

years ahead of schedule. The Government is committed

to the eradication of poverty, as defined by the United

Nations, by the year 2009. By placing human security

at the forefront of the Government’s policies, Thailand

is stressing its determination to ensure for the Thai

people a society free from want and free from fear.

Living in a world of differences will entail misery

if we keep forging conflict out of diversity. It will

entail hardship if we keep exacerbating disagreement.

It will entail stagnation if we keep failing to make

room for compromise. It will entail human suffering if

Governments keep turning their backs on chances of

partnership. And it will entail devastation if we use our

differences as an excuse to always differ.

But we, Members of the United Nations, live in a

world of differences. It is incumbent upon all of us to

ensure that our world of differences has a future — a

future that will not entail misery, hardship and human

suffering as a result of those differences. It is

incumbent upon every one of us to work with United

Nations institutions so as to ensure that our differences

are turned into a source of strength for our future.

Thailand is doing its part, and will continue to do so,

for such a future.