Thai govt unveils 12-nation 'Friends of Thailand' bloc

[webfact]

Thai Govt Unveils 12-Nation 'Friends of Thailand' Bloc
By Khaosod English

BANGKOK – Diplomats from twelve countries are visiting Bangkok today as a part of the Foreign Ministry's effort to form a new diplomatic bloc that promotes Thailand's standing in the international community, a government spokesperson said.

"They visited Thailand through our program of creating a network of alliances for Thailand - called Friends of Thailand - which has been formed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," said Maj.Gen. Weerachon Sukhonthapatipak.

The diplomats, who are ambassadors to the United Nations, hail from Antigua and Barbuda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Kiribati, Hungary, Nauru, Vanuatu, and Cameroon.

According to Maj.Gen. Weerachon, junta chairman and Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha met with the UN ambassadors today and told them that Thailand is undergoing a period of national reforms, and will hold an election by September 2016.

"The Prime Minister and the government will not interfere [with the election]," Maj.Gen. Weerachon said. "And he insisted that he did not want to hold on to power, and is not seeking personal gain. He is enduring all of this for his country. In the past, various conflicts prevented the country from moving forward, so it was necessary for him to step in and take care of the situation. And he insisted that Thailand is building a sustainable system of democracy."

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1432708694


-- Khaosod English 2015-05-27

[Songhua]

Some of the world's real power players there.

[khwaibah]

" Barbuda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Kiribati, Hungary, Nauru, Vanuatu, and Cameroon." All have top notch quality tourist available.

[toybits]

Outside of the Central African Republic, I wonder how many persons could correctly guess half of the continents those other countries are located in.

[NancyL]

Wow, the first two paragraphs had me thinking this was going to be a significant announcement -- this new "Diplomatic Block", you know, something like the G7. Trying to think what snappy name they had selected for the group -- FOT just didn't seem to have the proper gravitas. Then I kept reading and saw what countries were on board. Yeah, the I think we can come up with something suitable using FOT as a starting point.

[Orac]

How did Hungary manage to sneak in there - was the ambassador fooled by some pretty into thinking he was doing a survey on tourism?

[willyumiii]

Those are some pretty influential friends!

Most people could not even find them on a map!

Go Thailand!!!

[ddavidovsky]

Thailand finds its level.

[Thaddeus]

How did Hungary manage to sneak in there - was the ambassador fooled by some pretty into thinking he was doing a survey on tourism?

They thought it said Hungry.

[NancyL]

Yeah, can you imagine what went thru the Hungarian ambassador's mind when he looked around the room and realized he was the biggest power player there? Probably something like, why am I wasting my time?

[tso310]

Obviously a late April fool.

[thesetat2013]

What happened to having elections in Feb?

[JAG]

Oh the Irony.... to go from playing footsie (allegedly) with the President of the USA to being best mates with The Central African Republic. ....

[Chang_paarp]

Some fine examples of democracy in that bunch.

[cmsally]

Oh my god I haven't laughed so much in years. This has to be the funniest thing ever, but still left wondering if someone is having a joke. This is the sort of thing you hear on Not the Nine O'Clock News.

PS The system wouldn't let me add enough laughing smileys

[whatawonderfulday]

N. Korea will be added to the list next week along with Sealand

[Songhua]

Burundi diplomat: 'Our president understands your plight'

[Prbkk]

Visa free entry , reciprocated, for all those "friends"?

[Tatsujin]

... I'm still giggling ... these guys simply do not live in the real world ...

[kaiyaibob]

Could explain why Thais are always Hungary or is that Hungaly

[pinkpanther99]

Thailand, you never cease to amaze.

That list is like a who's who of world super powers, right?

What I find most amazing is that officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs actually know where any of these countries are.

Jesus wept.

[deckape]

I know it was translated from Thai language, but still...

That is the most disjointed press release I have ever read in my life.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Must be tuff times for the Thai diplomats when they have to join a club with mostly people with dark skin. What happened to the 40 years of friendship with North Korea, did they cheat them too or?

[Plutojames88]

Birds of a feather

[JOC]

Friends of Thailand>>>>>>>>>>>>>>The G12

Waiting for ginjag to explain, why those countries are so important!!

[JoePai]

Kiribat - have to admit I had to get Google out to see where that great nation was in the world

[cmsally]

Actually I was OK with Kiribat but had to double check on Nauru !!

Gosh this is turning into quite a geography lesson.

[MobileContent]

Antigua and Barbuda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Kiribati, Hungary, Nauru, Vanuatu, and Cameroon

No friends of Asia? It says a lot about the current diplomatic mess Thailand is in. I thought Japan and China and of course Brunei would be on that lost.

[deckape]

^^ I am always skeptical at the language chosen for these Thai PBS stories. This was probably just some ordinary meeting or something. Quite possible the domestic media is taking the piss, too.

[ameadi]

Many rocket scientists