It's a wide-wide world

Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Thailand's University of California at Los Angeles-educated former foreign minister, recently shared his experiences with students at the college's Burkle Centre.

The address was part of its international-education week. More than 50 people attended the inaugural lecture of the distinguished international speaker series.

The series is organised by the university's Dashew Centre for International Students and Scholars.

Kantathi contributed an insider's perspective of diplomacy. His address was sprinkled with personal anecdotes from his career - from serving as a junior officer in the Foreign Ministry in 1984 until becoming minister in 1995.

In his years as a diplomat, Kantathi has spoken with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about North Korea, and "frankly" about her missing a an important Asean regional forum.

He negotiated the release of Thai citizens held hostage by insurgents in Nigeria and the release of another, possibly abducted in North Korea.

He asked President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines if she could help evacuate Thai nations from Lebanon when violence broke out.

Kantathi, the son of Thailand's first ambassador to Australia, was instrumental in having Burma skip its turn to chair Asean when the junta was at the centre of another internal crisis.

Details of Kantathi's speech can be found at www.international.ucla.edu/burkle/