Published on May 30, 2005

Dr Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand’s candidate as the next UN secretary-general, describes his intense overseas campaigning as a ‘listening tour’. He talks to Nation editor Pana Janviroj.

The King of Jordan has offered to facilitate his campaign visits to countries in the Middle East. The Pakistani government has appointed a former senior foreign affairs official to help him in his campaigning.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Surakiart Sathirathai says his quest to become the next secretary general of the United Nations is “so far, so good”.

And Thailand’s candidate can take heart from a consensus within Asia and among the continent’s superpowers that “this is going to be Asia’s turn to head the UN”, after Kofi Annan steps down at the end of 2006.

China, one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, is starting to openly back Asean’s choice, which is Surakiart. Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly said: “This time around, it is Asia’s turn”.

Yet international diplomacy is more than simply the wishes of the majority of the world community.

Three years ago, Asia had as many as five candidates. Time ran out before consensus could be reached on one single Asian candidate and Kofi Annan was re-elected, many say, by default.

This time around, it is reported that Annan plans to have his successor ready by the middle of 2006 in order to prepare him or her to take over by the end of the year.

Surakiart is an early starter in the race. He has since been joined by a candidate from Sri Lanka. South Korea is reportedly interested in joining the contest, but has yet to come up with a name.

Although he made an estimated 170 overseas trips during his tenure as Thailand’s foreign minister, Surakiart, 48, has since made four or five trips as deputy prime minister solely to campaign for the UN job.

His credentials as a bright and energetic politician are well recognised. This was acknowledged recently by a German foreign affairs official in Berlin, who said: “He has an impeccable academic record, as well, with a PhD law degree from Fletcher School [Tufts University, USA].”

But both the European Union and the United States remain aloof on who they might back as the next UN chief. In Asia, both Japan and India are playing their cards close to their chests on which candidate they might support.

Surakiart also faces numerous negative perceptions both overseas and at home. The first has to do with an international belief that the Thai government has leaned heavily the way of China. “So can he exercise neutrality as the UN head?” is a common question asked by both Asian and Western diplomats.

Second, Thailand’s credibility has recently come under question, and this reflects upon its candidate for the UN job. The issues clouding Thailand’s international image range from the extra-judicial killings of alleged drug traffickers in the early part of the Thaksin administration to the two bloody incidents in the deep South – Krue Se and Tak Bai.

There are also questions over Thailand’s policy on Burma, especially the alleged conflict of interest arising from the business interests of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s family empire.

Then there are a number of incidents that are perceived as “foul play”. These range from the Thai government’s behaviour during the recent appointment of Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi as head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) to policy and personality disputes with Thai career diplomats.

Surakiart is baffled by these perceptions. He dismissed any foul play against Supachai, saying it was all a misunderstanding.

“We do not exercise partisan behaviour. When Khun Surin [Pitsuwan, a Democrat MP and former foreign minister] expressed his intention to bid to become the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, I [as foreign minister] wrote to Annan [giving Thailand’s support],” said Surakiart.

He said the Thai government could not “nominate” Supachai for the Unctad post because it had already backed a Filipino as the Asean candidate.

“Khun Supachai did not tell us then that he was interested. We could not nominate him, but he is a Thai, so we could say we supported him – which we did,” he said.

Surakiart also said Supachai's recent appointment would have no bearing on his bid to become the next UN secretary general. Unctad’s chief was regarded as a third-tier position in the UN, equivalent to an “under-secretary” level.

The Thai candidate said he didn’t see himself as handicapped by being an early campaigner.

“I adhere to global good governance and transparency. I see my overseas trips as a ‘listening tour’,” he said.

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