Thailand, 2014

I am here to pay

my country’s highest tribute to the United Nations for

the work it has done to improve the lives of people

around the world. Thailand is fully committed to what

the United Nations stands for and to realizing through

the United Nations the hopes we all share. We are also

firmly committed to fulfilling our responsibilities as

a Member of the United Nations, because the United

Nations can achieve its vision only when we act together

in unity.

This year, the theme is the post-2015 development

agenda and how to truly make a difference in the lives

of the people on the ground. Many countries have

achieved many of the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs). For example, they have succeeded in reducing

poverty and have achieved their education and health-

care goals. But there are many other countries for which

achieving the MDGs has not been easy. Therefore, as

we move towards the post-2015 development agenda,

we must renew our commitments to make sure that no

one is left behind.

For Thailand, development is not just about gross

domestic product. To be sustainable, development must

go hand in hand with democracy, human rights and

peace and security, the pillars of the United Nations.

It must be allowed to grow in an environment that

is free from conflict. Building a strong and robust

democracy is the challenge that many of us face. As in

many countries, Thailand has learned the lesson that

democracy is more than having elections. Democracy

must be based on respect for the rule of law, and it must

be about good governance, transparency, accountability

and equal access to justice.

That was not the case for my country before 22 May.

Before that date, we were at a political impasse. We

had a dysfunctional democracy. We were in danger of

more turmoil. And there was a very real possibility

of bloodshed. Political opposition parties were given

the chance to save democracy, but they failed because

they were unwilling to compromise for the sake of

the country. That chain of unfortunate events made

the military intervention necessary. We all wished

that things had not had to turn out that way. But if the

situation had been allowed to continue, Thailand’s

democracy would have been torn apart. That would

have undermined Thailand’s stability and the stability

of the region.

Thailand is now going through a period of transition.

We remain fully committed to democracy and human

rights, and we know we cannot go against the tide of

democracy. Thailand needs a real and functioning

democracy, one that delivers on the aspirations of

the people. Let there be no doubt that Thailand is not

retreating from democracy. But we do need time and

space to bring about reconciliation, undertake political

reform and strengthen our democratic institutions. We

do not want a repeat of what happened on 22 May.

In addition to implementing our road map for

returning to full democracy, we are also getting our

economy moving again. Confidence has returned and

growth has been restored.

Thailand is committed to playing an active role

with its partners in the Association of Southeast

Asian Nations (ASEAN) in order to build an ASEAN

community of peace and prosperity. We are committed

to working with our partners in the international

community to address the many global challenges

we face, such as climate change, transnational crime,

pandemics and human trafficking. Most of all, we are

committed to working with our partners to realize

the development agenda, because real and lasting

peace is based not on State-centred security but on

people-centred security.

Development must transform people’s lives and

open the door to a better future for all. Development

must empower individuals, communities and societies.

That lies at the heart of the sufficiency-economy

philosophy of His Majesty the King of Thailand, and

that philosophy has guided our development efforts for

decades. The sufficiency economy is about promoting

the right values, drawing on the inner strengths of each

community and building resilience from the grass-

roots level up. In doing so, we are able to lay a solid

foundation for sustainable economic development at

the national level.

But in today’s world, no nation can be an island of

prosperity unto itself. More than ever, we need a strong

global partnership, whether in order to realize the post-

2015 development agenda or to meet shared challenges.

First of all, that partnership must meet the

challenge of human security, the most pressing of our

time. Human security is about human dignity, human

rights, equity, equality and social justice, the promise

of a better future for all and ensuring that in our rush

for development we do not sacrifice the environment

that sustains us. Ensuring human security should be at

the heart of sustainable development.

But while we advance the development agenda, we

cannot ignore the immediate threats that require our

concerted action. Today we are confronted with some

immediate threats to the global partnership, such as the

Ebola crisis and the humanitarian crises in the Middle

East — Syria, Libya, Iraq and the Gaza Strip. It pains

us to witness the senseless death of civilians, especially

children, in the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The situation

demands that we work even harder to bring lasting peace

to the Palestinian people and to meet their aspirations

to statehood, as well as to affirm the legitimate right of

the Israeli people to security.

As the situation in the Middle East unfolds, we

are also deeply concerned about the rising threat

of radicalism and extremism. There can be no

justification for the brutalities and atrocities we have

seen. We must rise to that challenge to peace, to our

peoples’ livelihoods and to the gains we have made in

economic and social development. While some radical

and extremist movements have indeed been able to

draw recruits from many parts the world, their mission

is nothing more than the use of terrorism and fear of to

advance their objectives.

Our peace and security and development are

all connected. In order to achieve them, we must all

try to contribute as much as we can and to meet our

international responsibilities as best we can. Some of

us may have the capacity to do more than others. But

if we all do our part, we can make the world better and

safer. That is why Thailand has sent volunteers to its

neighbours to work in health and education and why we

sent medical teams to Japan in 2011 as part of the relief

efforts following the earthquake and tsunami.

The Thai flag and Thai personnel have been

associated with peacekeeping operations in many

places around the world. We were in Timor-Leste and

in the Sudan, and along the India-Pakistan border.

And we were part of the coalition formed to combat

piracy in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.

The role of the military, however, is not limited to war

and conflict alone. Even in times of peace it plays an

important role, especially now, when we are dealing

with many challenges such as natural disasters. That

is why Thailand is promoting humanitarian assistance

and disaster relief cooperation in the ASEAN region

and beyond. Perhaps the time has come for ASEAN to

begin to explore the idea of a regional humanitarian

assistance disaster recovery task force.

As members of the international community,

we must all share the responsibility to stay true to

the original promise of the United Nations, which

is to promote social progress and better standards of

living in larger freedom for the peoples of the world.

It is because of Thailand’s commitment to the United

Nations that we have submitted our candidature for a

seat on the Human Rights Council for the 2015-2017

term and on the Security Council for the 2017-2018

term. We hope our friends will once again give us their

trust and allow us to serve.

Whether the issue is democracy, development or

peace, we all must assume our responsibilities because

we are, after all, a family of United Nations.