Thailand, 1994

On behalf of the

Government and people of Thailand, I extend warmest

congratulations to Mr. Amara Essy of Côte d’Ivoire on

his election as President of the General Assembly at its

forty-ninth session. I am confident that he will provide

the General Assembly with the leadership to guide the

session to a successful conclusion.

I should also like to pay tribute to Ambassador

Insanally, the General Assembly’s President at its

forty-eighth session. My delegation very much

appreciates his untiring and effective leadership and his

dedication to the work of this body. Under his

presidency, the General Assembly had an eventful year,

and its role was enhanced in ways which were beneficial

to the Organization.

Thailand joins the rest of the international

community in congratulating the Government and people

of South Africa on having established a united,

democratic and non-racial country. They have shown us

that compromise is possible and that even the most

long-standing and bitter of conflicts can be resolved

peacefully. This achievement is due entirely to the

exceptional vision, courage and pragmatism of the

country’s leaders - in particular, President Nelson

Mandela and Executive Deputy President F.W. de Klerk.

Tribute must also be paid to the United Nations, and in

particular to the Special Committee against Apartheid, for

its contributions to the positive changes in South Africa.

There is another bright spot giving all of us hope for

a more peaceful world. Since the Thai Government has

long supported the Middle East peace process, the

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termination of the state of war between Jordan and Israel,

announced in Washington in July this year, following last

year’s historic agreement between Israel and the PLO, gives

all of us reason to rejoice. We hope that it will lead to

further agreements on "other tracks" acceptable to all

parties concerned, so that a durable peace in the Middle

East may finally be achieved.

We also welcome the positive developments

concerning the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and

hope that dialogue and negotiation between the parties

concerned will eventually result in that part of the world

enjoying lasting peace and stability.

However, in spite of the promising outlook for

international peace and security, there remain political and

military conflicts of both global and regional magnitude.

It is therefore imperative that countries continue unfailing

efforts to secure a stable and peaceful international

environment. As a first step in this direction, the

international community could support and cooperate in

efforts towards comprehensive reform and total

revitalization of the United Nations to enable the

Organization to meet the new challenges of today’s world

and to assist Members efficiently in their peaceful

endeavours.

Thailand pledges its continued support for the

Secretary-General’s proposals in "An Agenda for Peace".

These constitute an innovative and practical framework for

the maintenance of international peace and security and

deserve serious consideration by all Member States.

In South-East Asia, realizing the need to ensure a

secure and peaceful international environment, the

Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) took the

lead in promoting political and security dialogues and

consultations in the Asia-Pacific region by initiating the

establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

Designed to be a high-level consultative forum on political

and security matters, the ARF held its first meeting in

Bangkok on 25 July 1994, after the twenty-seventh ASEAN

ministerial meeting. Nineteen ministers from countries in

the Asia-Pacific region and from the European Union

attended this historic meeting to discuss political and

security cooperation issues, such as the latest developments

on regional situations, and decided to carry out some

practical confidence-building measures applicable to the

Asia-Pacific region.

As Chairman of the first ARF meeting, Thailand is

pleased with the results of the meeting and its

achievements. In particular, Thailand is grateful for the

kind cooperation it received from all countries concerned.

Since the success of this first meeting, the ARF has

become a viable forum for the promotion of trust as well

as political and security cooperation within the

Asia-Pacific region. The ARF has also demonstrated its

potential to make substantive contributions towards the

United Nations efforts at preventive diplomacy and at

maintaining international peace and security.

In other words, the ARF got off to a good start.

Thailand is fully aware that the first meeting of the ARF

in Bangkok was only the beginning. For this reason,

Thailand views the inter-sessional activities at various

levels among officials from ARF countries as necessary

for the ARF’s continued success. These activities could

help the ARF find its future direction and enable it to

become more efficient and productive.

Political and military security are but one aspect of

the bigger picture facing us. As we search for a new

international order based on a common set of principles

and values, we need to change our way of thinking. We

also need a new culture of development cooperation and

new definitions of the notions of security and

development.

The winds of change have begun to sweep across the

globe. We are now witnessing the creation of major

landmarks of international consensus-building. In 1992,

the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit set a new stage for

global partnership on the environment and sustainable

development. Last year (in Vienna), the World

Conference on Human Rights was held, producing a

world programme of action. Last month in Cairo we

witnessed the International Conference on Population and

Development. Next year in Copenhagen, the World

Summit for Social Development will be held. This

Summit will serve as a bridge between this year’s

Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and

next year’s Fourth World Conference on Women in

Beijing. It also presents a unique opportunity for the

international community to respond, on a global level, to

urgent human and social concerns that place people at the

centre of the development process.

The Thai Government accords special importance to

social development. In light of this, we have established

a social cabinet dedicated to formulating policies and

finding solutions to a number of pressing social problems.

We have also organized a joint committee comprising

members of the private sector and of Government and

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chaired by the Prime Minister. Its mandate is to oversee

efforts to alleviate the social problems that beset a growing

economy, such as those being experienced by my country

and others in the region.

Thailand has participated and will continue to

participate actively in all global deliberations. These

conferences create new paradigms of international conduct

which give rise to the various comprehensive global plans

of action. They have also started the new process of

redefining the notions of security and development.

Security in this final decade of the twentieth century

goes well beyond the familiar concepts of old. It must

involve people - how they live and how they exercise their

choices. It should be security with a human face, because

it must deal directly with political, economic, environmental

and social aspects of our lives in a comprehensive manner.

Development, as pointed out by the Secretary-General,

must be seen in its five interlinked dimensions: with peace

as the foundation; the economy as the engine of progress;

the environment as a basis for sustainability; justice as a

pillar of society; and democracy as good governance. My

country shares these perceptions and supports their premises

as envisioned by the Secretary-General.

It is with this awareness that Thailand approaches its

work on the international agenda for development. Such an

agenda should reflect and indeed promote self-reliance as

well as interdependence among Member States. There is

no doubt that development is primarily a national

responsibility. Yet, it is also a shared responsibility of the

international community. It is our firm belief that the

development effort of any State in today’s world must be

supported by a conducive international environment, based

on free and fair trading practices. The completion of the

Uruguay Round and the creation of the World Trade

Organization now hold out the prospect of providing

significant benefits to the world economy.

A United Nations agenda for development should not

be given any less importance than the agenda for peace.

These two intertwined issues must be the core of any effort

to strengthen the role and activities of the United Nations

as we approach the next century.

Together with the "An Agenda for Peace", "An agenda

for development" should serve as an instrument for the

coordination of activities within the United Nations, as well

as between the United Nations and the Bretton Woods

institutions, and other non-governmental organizations. It

should be an instrument to create unity of purpose, at

both the policy and operational levels, within the

Organization. The United Nations cannot be a strong

force for peace unless it is also a strong force for

development.

The United Nations remains humanity’s best hope

for creating a more desirable world - a world with a

conscience, a world which recognizes that humans

everywhere, young or old, strong or weak, are at the

centre of our communal and individual efforts. To this

end, I should like to reaffirm Thailand’s commitment to

this vision, which cannot be fulfilled without the active

participation of Member States. Thailand will do its part

in contributing to this end. We hope that other countries

will also chip in with their fair share of contributions. A

world united by this vision and this unity of purpose will

surely be a better place for us all and, more important, for

our children and grandchildren.