Thaksin Slams United Nations

[george]

Thai PM slams UN

UNITED NATIONS: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has taken the United Nations to task by criticising agencies of a lack of coordination and not respecting host countries’ concerns, resulting in the UN being drawn into political traps.

“It must be frankly admitted that the problem Thailand and other countries have often faced is the lack of coordination among the different UN agencies and sometimes of inadequate guidelines,” Thaksin said.

The premier was speaking at the opening session of the second AseanUN summit at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

He said that to achieve the UN’s mission in a country, both the country and the UN agencies must also have trust and “a constructive partnership that is based on respect for dignity, integrity and sovereignty of both parties. The lack of coordination and adequate guidelines can draw the work of a UN agency into undesirable domestic and internal political entangles.”

He cited Thailand as an example.

“A recent incident in Thailand is a case in point. Without coordination and headquarter guidelines, a UN agency went out of its way and allowed itself to be trapped into local political exploitation that could lead to international misunderstanding,” said Thaksin.

“Had the agency paid due respect to Thailand’s concern and had it tried to understand the real cause of the incident, it would not have been so exploited.”

He did not name the agency nor the incident. But many political observers believed he was referring to the recent incident in which the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia agreed to interview 131 Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia reportedly out of fear of the violence in the deep south of Thailand.

Full Text of Thaksin’s speech is as follows;

Statement by H.E. Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra

Prime Minister of Thailand

at the Second ASEANUN Summit

New York, 13 September 2005

Your Majesty,

Mr. SecretaryGeneral,

Excellencies,

Today, Asean and the countries in Southeast Asia have played an instrumental role in bringing changes to Asia. Subregional cooperation has taken place actively in many parts of the continent, in Southeast Asia, in South Asia, in Central Asia, in West Asia and in East Asia. They are growing in strength to form building blocks and network of cooperation to support the work of the United Nations which is the core of the multilateral system.

After almost four decades, Asean, at last, is making an important decision to weave a greater network of development cooperation in response to the change in geopolitical landscape of the world by creating Asean community in economic, social, and security dimensions. But forthcoming Asean community integration must bring along not only the greater sense of regional community but also the realisation of genuine development of the entire community.

One of the prerequisites of a genuine sense of community is the presence of constructive and trustworthy partnership. Countries in the community must be prepared to lend a helping hand when needed. Countries in the community must be prepared to create the air of cooperation not mistrust. Countries in the community must be prepared to talk and hold consultation between each other and create a partnership that is based on trust and respect and not abuses and opportunism. That is what members of Asean must be prepared to commit. In community building, one country’s untrustworthy conduct can easily jeopardise all countries’ good will and efforts. But I hope that in our community, all of us will do all we could to ensure that the spirit of trust, respect and cooperation will prevail.

That is why I believe in thinking beyond Thailand’s interests. That is why I believe in being active in creating trust and good will to help the realisation of the Asean community. By initiating the economic cooperation strategy based on trust called ACMECS with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam, Thailand hopes to bridge the development gap between the old and the new ASEAN members to help facilitate the Asean integration. ACMECS is based on my belief in “prosper thy neighbour” and my desire to see the Asean integration a benefit to all and a burden to none.

In working with the United Nations, Thailand has done whatever in its capacity to support the UN constructive role in security, social and economic development. But, it must be frankly admitted that the problem Thailand and other countries have often been facing is the lack of coordination amongst the different UN agencies and sometimes the problem of inadequate guidelines. For any UN agency to successfully complete its mission in a given country, there must exist trust and constructive partnership, based on respect for dignity, integrity and sovereignty, between the UN agency and the countries concerned. On the contrary, the lack of coordination and adequate guidelines can draw the work of a UN agency into undesirable domestic and internal political entangles. In several cases, it even played into the hand of those who instigate local conflicts. This can be a cause of resentment, rejection and noncooperation by many states and make the UN irrelevant to the people.

A recent incident in Thailand was a case in point. Without coordination and headquarter guidelines, a UN agency went out of its way and allowed itself to be trapped into local political exploitation that could lead to international misunderstanding. Had that agency paid due respect to Thailand’s concern and had it tried to understand the real cause of the incident, it would not have been so exploited.

Therefore, it is important that part of the UN reform package must pay attention to this perennial problem of coordination between UN agencies themselves and between the agencies and the secretariat if the future of UN agencies will be relevant and acceptable to all members.

I do hope that through this Summit, both the UN and Asean will take some notice and help each other to build a better and more constructive partnership. Thank you.

--The Nation 2005-09-15

[Narachon]

I had no idea Thaksin was in town!

Wonder what else he's going to do here.....

Edited September 14, 2005 by Narachon

[samran]

I had no idea Thaksin was in town!

Wonder what else he's going to do here.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Largest gathering of world leaders in history at the UN today. But given that network news in the US don't actually do world news these days.....

[jrincon17]

I had no idea Thaksin was in town!

Wonder what else he's going to do here.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Largest gathering of world leaders in history at the UN today. But given that network news in the US don't actually do world news these days.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The world news should say Iraq News or Afghanistan News . Thats it ! i hate it , i look foward to the bbc news when it comes on . Do you think most americans are blind as i before i started traveleing ?

[rstrauss]

Thailand and other countries have often faced is the lack of coordination among the different UN agencies

Lack of coordination? I thought that was a Thai invention!

[Anek18]

UN is the problem.... Instead of making things good, they only made it worse

[sriracha john]

Thai PM slams UN

UNITED NATIONS: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has taken the United Nations to task by criticising agencies of a lack of coordination and not respecting host countries’ concerns, resulting in the UN being drawn into political traps.

"A recent incident in Thailand was a case in point. Without coordination and headquarter guidelines, a UN agency went out of its way and allowed itself to be trapped into local political exploitation that could lead to international misunderstanding. Had that agency paid due respect to Thailand’s concern and had it tried to understand the real cause of the incident, it would not have been so exploited."

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai (as the Thai candidate to replace UN Secretary General Kofi) was sitting in attendance at the General Assembly and I would have sworn that when the camera picked him out, he was mouthing the words up to Thaksin at the podium, "Shut the *%*@#* up, you dumb idiot, I'm trying to get the boss's job here."

[ovenman]

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai (as the Thai candidate to replace UN Secretary General Kofi) was sitting in attendance at the General Assembly and I would have sworn that when the camera picked him out, he was mouthing the words up to Thaksin at the podium, "Shut the *%*@#* up, you dumb idiot, I'm trying to get the boss's job here."

If Mr Big really wanted to make an impact, he should have gone up in front of the assembly, simply stated "The United Nations is not Thailand's father" and walked off.

[taxexile]

thaksin's not far wrong.

The UN displays its continuing irrelevance

(Filed: 15/09/2005)

The killing of more than 150 people in Baghdad yesterday threw into stark relief the irrelevance of the United Nations. The mass murder of civilians on the streets of the capital took place a day after the General Assembly had failed to resolve differences on what constitutes a terrorist act, thus preventing agreement on a comprehensive anti-terrorism convention before the UN's 60th anniversary summit. With their eye on the Palestinian struggle for statehood, countries such as Egypt and Pakistan had argued that recourse to violence by the "freedom fighter" was legitimate. Putting the opposing case to the assembly yesterday, George W Bush and Tony Blair rightly condemned all attacks on civilians and non-combatants, whatever the cause or grievance. It is depressing to see allies of the United States seeking to justify certain acts of terrorism, particularly as they themselves have suffered from this scourge.

The UN further underlined its irrelevance by making no mention of non-proliferation and disarmament in its "outcome document". Following the impasse at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in May, the absence of consensus was hardly surprising. But it says little for the assembly's sense of responsibility that it remained silent on the greatest threat to world security, particularly if weapons of mass destruction get into terrorist hands. Kofi Annan, the secretary-general, called the omission inexcusable.

Well before the opening of yesterday's summit, the world body had abandoned plans to grant permanent membership of the Security Council to Japan, Germany, Brazil and India. In the final stage of negotiations, it failed to reach agreement on establishing a more effective successor to the tarnished UN Commission on Human Rights, and on endowing the secretary-general with greater executive powers. Given the lack of accountability revealed by the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal, the latter was a glaring dereliction.

On the Millennium Development Goals, not much progress was made beyond what had been agreed in 2000 on halving world poverty by 2015, enrolling every child in a primary school, tackling disease and environmental degradation and forming a "global partnership" for development. In that respect, the recent G8 summit in Gleneagles, where, at Mr Blair's prompting, members agreed to double aid to Africa, was more effective.

The establishment of a democracy fund and a peace-building commission were the main fruits of the General Assembly's deliberations. It requires all the professional optimism of a diplomat, in this case Britain's ambassador to the UN, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, to describe the outcome document as "a tremendous achievement". In fact, it is a profoundly disappointing response to what Mr Annan had hoped would be sweeping and fundamental reform. In 2002, Mr Bush told the UN that it would become irrelevant if it failed to face up to the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Three years on, with a different set of challenges, it still has to grasp the truth of that warning

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005. Terms & Conditions of reading.

Commercial information.  Privacy and Cookie Policy

[sriracha john]

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai (as the Thai candidate to replace UN Secretary General Kofi) was sitting in attendance at the General Assembly and I would have sworn that when the camera picked him out, he was mouthing the words up to Thaksin at the podium, "Shut the *%*@#* up, you dumb idiot, I'm trying to get the boss's job here."

If Mr Big really wanted to make an impact, he should have gone up in front of the assembly, simply stated "The United Nations is not Thailand's father" and walked off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Watching the tape of his speech and seeing him stumble and fumble over even basic English terms in his Elmer Fudd look and manner of speech, I'm constantly reminding myself that he obtained a PhD in USA... and wondering how???

granted... it WAS a Texan university, but still.

[ovenman]

Watching the tape of his speech and seeing him stumble and fumble over even basic English terms in his Elmer Fudd look and manner of speech, I'm constantly reminding myself that he obtained a PhD in USA... and wondering how???

granted... it WAS a Texan university, but still.

Along with a Masters Degree from a different American university. Everytime I hear him speak in English, I wonder the same... Granted, my Thai sucks and will probably always suck, but if I had two advanced graduate degrees from Thai universities, from programs that were both conducted in Thai, I'd like to think that I would be fairly fluent by that point.

[sriracha john]

Watching the tape of his speech and seeing him stumble and fumble over even basic English terms in his Elmer Fudd look and manner of speech, I'm constantly reminding myself that he obtained a PhD in USA... and wondering how???

granted... it WAS a Texan university, but still.

Along with a Masters Degree from a different American university. Everytime I hear him speak in English, I wonder the same... Granted, my Thai sucks and will probably always suck, but if I had two advanced graduate degrees from Thai universities, from programs that were both conducted in Thai, I'd like to think that I would be fairly fluent by that point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Precisely...!!

My other concern would be to NOT assume a similar cartoon character's look and manner of speech from the locale I was visiting. I wouldn't want to be a farang Doraemon the way Mr. T is a Thai Elmer Fudd.

**yes.. he's originally Japanese, but he's so hugely popular here, too, he might as well be Thai.**

Edited September 15, 2005 by sriracha john

[Lynnx]

Watching the tape of his speech and seeing him stumble and fumble over even basic English terms in his Elmer Fudd look and manner of speech, I'm constantly reminding myself that he obtained a PhD in USA... and wondering how???

granted... it WAS a Texan university, but still.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How many things from Texas are real? Look at the mess in the world today.

[stumonster]

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai (as the Thai candidate to replace UN Secretary General Kofi) was sitting in attendance at the General Assembly and I would have sworn that when the camera picked him out, he was mouthing the words up to Thaksin at the podium, "Shut the *%*@#* up, you dumb idiot, I'm trying to get the boss's job here."

If Mr Big really wanted to make an impact, he should have gone up in front of the assembly, simply stated "The United Nations is not Thailand's father" and walked off.

Watching the tape of his speech and seeing him stumble and fumble over even basic English terms in his Elmer Fudd look and manner of speech, I'm constantly reminding myself that he obtained a PhD in USA... and wondering how???

granted... it WAS a Texan university, but still.

After all the research and time he would have put into writing that speech how can you be faulting him on his pronounciation??...

[silk123]

Well if there is one thing that I've learned about Thailand, it's if there is a problem ,IT'S ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSES FAULT.

That's drilled into the kids and Mr X gets away with murder.

[kat]

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai (as the Thai candidate to replace UN Secretary General Kofi) was sitting in attendance at the General Assembly and I would have sworn that when the camera picked him out, he was mouthing the words up to Thaksin at the podium, "Shut the *%*@#* up, you dumb idiot, I'm trying to get the boss's job here."

If Mr Big really wanted to make an impact, he should have gone up in front of the assembly, simply stated "The United Nations is not Thailand's father" and walked off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, they just want to take "big daddys" place, so they can be everyone else's stepfather.

[Hunter]

Dear Brethen;

Brillance in academia, does not necessarily translate to eloquence as a speaker. I have met many very intellegent people who were horrible at public speaking. Speaking in a language that is not your mother tongue is difficult at best. Many of the euphemisums and language terms may have a different meaning to you than to native speakers of that language as well as the extreme difficulty in relearning prounciations ie nouns, verbs, sentence construction etc.

In conclusion, while President Thaxsin may or may not be a fine example of a public servant, his native intellegence can not accuately judged by his speech patterns.

Cordially,

Hunter

My other concern would be to NOT assume a similar cartoon character's look and manner of speech from the locale I was visiting. I wouldn't want to be a farang Doraemon the way Mr. T is a Thai Elmer Fudd.

**yes.. he's originally Japanese, but he's so hugely popular here, too, he might as well be Thai.**

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Narachon]

I had no idea Thaksin was in town!

Wonder what else he's going to do here.....

Largest gathering of world leaders in history at the UN today. But given that network news in the US don't actually do world news these days.....

[sriracha john]

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai (as the Thai candidate to replace UN Secretary General Kofi) was sitting in attendance at the General Assembly and I would have sworn that when the camera picked him out, he was mouthing the words up to Thaksin at the podium, "Shut the *%*@#* up, you dumb idiot, I'm trying to get the boss's job here."

If Mr Big really wanted to make an impact, he should have gone up in front of the assembly, simply stated "The United Nations is not Thailand's father" and walked off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

wonder if PM saw my post???

anyway, ...and as if right on cue, this "world-class" leader blunders in with:

PM seeks US support for Thailand's UN top post bid

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seeking support from the United States in Thailand's bid for the top post of the United Nations in 2007.

The issue was raised by Thaksin when he met former US President George Bush, father of incumbent US President George W. Bush for lunch in New York on Thursday.

The Thai government is supporting Dr Surakiart Sathirathai, now a deputy prime minister, to run for the post of UN secretary-general after Kofi Annan, whose term will end next year. Bush Senior appeared to be interested in the issue.

Thaksin is scheduled to meet the incumbent US President on September 19, and also seek US President Bush's support for Surakiart, among other issues.

Many European countries, including France, have already pledged their support for the Thai candidate, according to the Thai leader.

-----------------------------------------

I wonder if France knows this???

anyway.... keep up the good work PM.... you got me in stitches...

"The UN sucks!".... and the next day, "Can my man have the top job at the UN?"

[sriracha john]

Sheesh...more Jekyll & Hyde... more have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too... :

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday continued his criticism of the United Nations, saying the world body should set up panels to monitor the performance of its agencies.

“I have proposed that UN agencies should not be too independent to monitor. Therefore a panel comprising representatives of each country should be established,” he said while in New York to attend the UN General Assembly meeting.

Continuing his criticism, Thaksin said some UN agencies that did not know all the facts on human-rights issues [in Thailand] had criticised the nation.

This kind of behaviour will make them no friends, Thaksin said, suggesting that instead the agencies should consult and seek information from the government before speaking out.

Thaksin proposed that as the UN sought to reform itself it should require that UN agencies work with host countries in partnerships of trust.

“The UN should act like a facilitator, pushing for development for UN member states. The UN should not try to direct any country on any issue, from human rights to refugees,” he said.

Several UN agencies have assailed the Thaksin government for its hard-handed tactics in addressing problems of drugs and violence in the deep South.

The latest incident to anger Thaksin was the Malaysian government allowing representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to interview 131 Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia’s Kelantan state reportedly out of fear of the southern violence.

He had earlier criticised UN agencies for a lack of coordination and not respecting host countries’ concerns, resulting in the UN being drawn into political traps.

After taking his swipes at the UN, Thaksin said he would have a meeting with US President George W Bush on Sunday. At the top of the agenda will be a request for US support in nominating Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to replace Kofi Annan as UN secretary-general when his term expires.

Edited September 17, 2005 by sriracha john

[Mr Red]

thaksin's not far wrong.

The UN displays its continuing irrelevance

(Filed: 15/09/2005)

The killing of more than 150 people in Baghdad yesterday threw into stark relief the irrelevance of the United Nations. The mass murder of civilians on the streets of the capital took place a day after the General Assembly had failed to resolve differences on what constitutes a terrorist act, thus preventing agreement on a comprehensive anti-terrorism convention before the UN's 60th anniversary summit. With their eye on the Palestinian struggle for statehood, countries such as Egypt and Pakistan had argued that recourse to violence by the "freedom fighter" was legitimate. Putting the opposing case to the assembly yesterday, George W Bush and Tony Blair rightly condemned all attacks on civilians and non-combatants, whatever the cause or grievance. It is depressing to see allies of the United States seeking to justify certain acts of terrorism, particularly as they themselves have suffered from this scourge.

The UN further underlined its irrelevance by making no mention of non-proliferation and disarmament in its "outcome document". Following the impasse at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in May, the absence of consensus was hardly surprising. But it says little for the assembly's sense of responsibility that it remained silent on the greatest threat to world security, particularly if weapons of mass destruction get into terrorist hands. Kofi Annan, the secretary-general, called the omission inexcusable.

Well before the opening of yesterday's summit, the world body had abandoned plans to grant permanent membership of the Security Council to Japan, Germany, Brazil and India. In the final stage of negotiations, it failed to reach agreement on establishing a more effective successor to the tarnished UN Commission on Human Rights, and on endowing the secretary-general with greater executive powers. Given the lack of accountability revealed by the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal, the latter was a glaring dereliction.

On the Millennium Development Goals, not much progress was made beyond what had been agreed in 2000 on halving world poverty by 2015, enrolling every child in a primary school, tackling disease and environmental degradation and forming a "global partnership" for development. In that respect, the recent G8 summit in Gleneagles, where, at Mr Blair's prompting, members agreed to double aid to Africa, was more effective.

The establishment of a democracy fund and a peace-building commission were the main fruits of the General Assembly's deliberations. It requires all the professional optimism of a diplomat, in this case Britain's ambassador to the UN, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, to describe the outcome document as "a tremendous achievement". In fact, it is a profoundly disappointing response to what Mr Annan had hoped would be sweeping and fundamental reform. In 2002, Mr Bush told the UN that it would become irrelevant if it failed to face up to the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Three years on, with a different set of challenges, it still has to grasp the truth of that warning

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005. Terms & Conditions of reading.

Commercial information.   Privacy and Cookie Policy

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here, here !!!

[spacebass]

I had no idea Thaksin was in town!

Wonder what else he's going to do here.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Largest gathering of world leaders in history at the UN today. But given that network news in the US don't actually do world news these days.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The world news should say Iraq News or Afghanistan News . Thats it ! i hate it , i look foward to the bbc news when it comes on . Do you think most americans are blind as i before i started traveleing ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes

[mcfester]

Thailand and other countries have often faced is the lack of coordination among the different UN agencies

Lack of coordination? I thought that was a Thai invention!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats why he's so p1ssed off, the UN is using one of Thailands copyrights without permission.

[petedk]

Hunter  2005-09-15 22:26:40 Post #17 

Dear Brethen;

Brillance in academia, does not necessarily translate to eloquence as a speaker. I have met many very intellegent people who were horrible at public speaking. Speaking in a language that is not your mother tongue is difficult at best. Many of the euphemisums and language terms may have a different meaning to you than to native speakers of that language as well as the extreme difficulty in relearning prounciations ie nouns, verbs, sentence construction etc.

In conclusion, while President Thaxsin may or may not be a fine example of a public servant, his native intellegence can not accuately judged by his speech patterns.

Cordially,

Hunter

Wot are yoo trieing too sae? Chek your spelling next time. Their are at leest for missteaks.

I agree that if Mr. Thaksin did get a Phd in Texas then his English should be much better.

Slightly off topic but .... on the other other hand I work at a university where several members of the teaching staff have obtained Phds in USA and their English is appalling to say the least. It took them 4 or 5 years to get that far and I often wonder how they managed to do it.

[craigt3365]

Interesting...I just read this thread...and then saw this:

Thailand's 'Iron Lady' Pressured to Resign

And Thaksin says he needs trust? He should start at home first...

[Siripon]

Interesting...I just read this thread...and then saw this:

Thailand's 'Iron Lady' Pressured to Resign

And Thaksin says he needs trust?  He should start at home first...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thaksin doesn't want Khunying Jaruwan to be overseeing all the megaprojects coming up because she won't let the corruption pass by, similarly, he's after 'The Bangkok Post' beacause it's many foreigners' viewpoint of Thailand and they're printing the unpleasant truth about nepotism, patronage, cronyism, censorship and worse under this one man show government.

Incidentally,Paiboon, the owner of Grammy who tried to takeover 'Matichon' newspaper, sent his singers to support General Sujinda when he tried to cling to power against the popular uprising in 1992 and shot scores of protestors.

Paiboon was also involved in a scandal selling vastly overpriced computers to schools. A man for all seasons, willing to do business with whoever is the current PM.

Taksin wants Surakiat to be the next Secretary General of the UN, what did he offer George Bush in exchange for support for Surakiat, acceptance of American demands on the F.TA. or perhaps the signing of the open skies policy?

[ovenman]

Taksin wants Surakiat to be the next Secretary General of the UN, what did he offer George Bush in exchange for support for Surakiat, acceptance of American demands on the F.TA. or perhaps the signing of the open skies policy?

Bush already has a gratis Thailand Elite card (received during the APEC summit). Maybe it was a bunch of 1-2-Call top-up cards?