Thailand, 2005

On behalf of

the delegation of Thailand, I would like to congratulate

you, Sir, on your election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixtieth session. The General

Assembly’s task this year is as crucial as the one that

Mr. Jean Ping, your predecessor, has just completed.

My delegation truly appreciated the strong leadership

of Mr. Ping during one of the most challenging periods

for the United Nations. My delegation’s appreciation

also goes to the Secretary-General for his tireless

efforts and active role.

Permit me at the outset to express my heartfelt

condolences to the American people for the devastation

caused by Hurricane Katrina. Having suffered from the

Asian tsunami ourselves last December, our hearts are

truly with the American people. In the aftermath of the

tsunami, we were deeply touched by the outpouring of

support coming to us from around the world. Our

friends were determined to do everything possible to

help us get through our darkest days. The Thai people

shared this spirit, and we also lent a hand to our

neighbours suffering from the same calamity. We are

seeing the whole world show the same spirit of shared

responsibility coming to the United States in the

aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We need to move

forward with this same spirit, this same sense of shared

responsibility, as we tackle the old and new challenges

of our modern world of globalization.

There is certainly much to do. In many countries,

extreme poverty, hunger, deadly infectious diseases

and environmental degradation continue to do damage.

They are silent killers. We cannot and must not ignore

them. Every day, 50,000 people continue to perish

from poverty and hunger; 30,000 children will not

survive to celebrate their fifth birthday. Yet, money

being spent on arms and weapons continues to outpace

money being spent on sustaining lives. This is

unacceptable.

Sixty years ago, the desire to achieve unity in

diversity with shared responsibility led to the creation

of the United Nations. Now at 60, the United Nations

is living in a world very different from that of 1945.

Today, challenges to human security and economic

development can be just as dangerous to the

international community as traditional challenges in

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the form of military conflicts. The United Nations must

be able to act effectively to serve the world’s peoples.

The outcome document that was adopted by the

High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly

(resolution 60/1) reflects the shared commitment of

world leaders to development, peace and security, as

well as human rights and human dignity. It sets the

stage for the attainment of peace and prosperity

throughout the world.

As difficult as it was to reach a consensus on the

outcome document, I believe that it will be even more

difficult to translate this consensus into concrete

action. The road ahead will not be an easy one to

travel. We must stay focused on our common

aspirations as we face the difficulties that lie ahead.

Thailand intends to work with the United Nations

and with all Member States to ensure that the vision of

our leaders and the aspirations of our peoples lead to

concrete results. We will actively participate in

addressing issues such as the revitalization of the

General Assembly, the strengthening of the Economic

and Social Council, the reform of the Security Council

and the establishment of the Human Rights Council.

We see merit in the idea of collective

responsibility to protect people from genocide, war

crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

To achieve lasting peace and prosperity, Thailand

strongly supports the establishment of the

Peacebuilding Commission as a mechanism to ensure

sustainable post-conflict recovery and development.

We also want to see extensive management reform to

make the Secretariat more efficient, more effective,

and also more accountable.

We must redouble our efforts to break the

vicious circle of poverty, disease and conflicts. The

challenge of our time is to make peace, prosperity,

dignity and freedom common to all. As Chair of the

Human Security Network, we are pleased that a

human-centred approach to security has been embraced

as an integral part of the new collective security

consensus.

The eradication of poverty must not be only a

dream. We must make it happen. The United Nations

must mobilize all relevant agencies and marshal

resources to help developing countries progress in a

sustainable way. Developing countries must be able to

identify and leverage their inner strengths and their

comparative advantages. Capacity-building and

technical assistance should be readily available. With

the right policies and strategies as well as the

appropriate infrastructure, developing countries can

leapfrog up the development ladder in our modern

world by making full use of globalization.

In that connection, we in Thailand have adopted a

people-centred development policy which stands side

by side with democracy and good governance. At the

international level, we are actively pursuing trade and

investment liberalization. This is our dual-track policy.

National efforts must be backed by a supportive

global environment. That means making international

trade free and fair, so that it can be an effective engine

for sustainable development. When we talk about free

trade, we must be mindful that not everyone is equally

fit to compete in the same system of free competition.

Two days ago, from this same rostrum, my Prime

Minister emphasized that a patient who has just been

released from the intensive care unit of a hospital

cannot run a race under the same rules and conditions

as a fit athlete. That is so true.

Thailand welcomes the reaffirmation of the

Monterrey Consensus and other proposals on

innovative financing for development. Financial

assistance given to developing countries must go

towards empowering the recipient countries. We must

avoid creating more dependency traps. We must work

together on the basis of partnership for sustainable

development.

Partnership is also vital in the area of energy. The

rapid rise in global oil prices is very harmful to

development and has the potential to roll back many of

the hard-won gains of developing countries. The higher

the price of oil, the longer it will take for many

developing countries to realize the Millennium

Development Goals. The United Nations should help to

mobilize worldwide cooperation to ensure energy

security as well as to develop alternative sources of

clean energy.

The United Nations must also do more to

promote synergy among Member States through the

facilitation of partnership building, such as North-

South, South-South and trilateral cooperation. We want

to see a new and enhanced strategic partnership for

development between the United Nations and its

Member States.

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In South-East Asia, that is the spirit that is

transforming the region. For its part, Thailand has been

reaching out to forge partnerships for development

worldwide. Through regional cooperation for

development initiatives, such as the Ayeyawady-Chao

Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy

(ACMECS); the Bay of Bengal Initiative for

Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation

(BIMSTEC); and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue

(ACD), Thailand is constructing layers of building

blocks that support the development work of the

United Nations.

We have shown through our actions that

assistance for development is not just a one-way road

from North to South. The countries of the South can

significantly help one another to prosper together

through South-South cooperation. Here, we in Thailand

have been working closely with other developing

countries, sharing our experiences and best practices,

especially in areas in which Thailand has expertise,

such as agricultural development and public health.

Marginalization breeds resentment and anger,

both of which are fertile ground for extremism to

flourish. Development helps to prevent this. Putting a

human face on globalization is as vital as it is urgent.

Together, we can create an environment conducive to

turning back the tide of violent extremism and

discrediting the appeal of terrorism. Religious and

cultural identities must also be recognized and

respected. This is unity in diversity. This is the path of

moderation and understanding. This is also a peaceful

way to fight violence and terrorism. Here, we must

condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,

by whomever committed, wherever and for whatever

purposes.

We have so much on our agenda. The road ahead

will not be an easy one. We must work together to

ensure that we can build strength from diversity, with a

very strong sense of shared responsibility. Let us make

the United Nations truly serve the people, no matter

who they are and no matter where they are. Let us

ensure that “We the peoples of the United Nations” can

truly live our lives “in larger freedom”, as envisioned

by our founding fathers 60 years ago.