As delivered

(Unofficial Translation)
Statement by
General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
at the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly
to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations,
on Monday, 21 September 2020, at the General Assembly Hall,
United Nations Headquarters, New York, United States of America
****************

Mr. President,

1. It is a great pleasure for me to participate in the High-Level Meeting to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations today.

2. We began the year 2020 hoping that it would be the year of celebration. Instead, we were faced with COVID-19. At present, Thailand has only around a hundred active cases left, a figure that reflects the country’s robust public health system and the good cooperation of the Thai public. But no single country is safe from COVID-19 until we all are.

3. The United Nations plays a crucial role in maintaining peace through peacekeeping operations in different regions of the world. It also works to promote and protect human rights through various international instruments, as well as driving development with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serving as today’s road map.

4. Thailand is proud to have consistently participated in the work of the United Nations in all 3 pillars:
- Peace and Security : To date, numerous Thai military, police and civilian personel, including women, have served in UN peacekeeping operations;
- Development : Having adopted the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy or SEP as our home-grown development approach, at present Thailand is driving cooperation in the context of SEP for SDGs Partnership and stands ready to extend such cooperation to other interested countries;
- Human Rights: Thailand has introduced innovative initiatives for human
rights promotion, such as in drafting the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

5. In addition, we are also gratified that several United Nations bodies such as the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific have chosen Thailand to be their base. In this connection, Thailand reiterates its commitment to being a good host country.

6. Over the years, the world has faced multiple crises. History has taught us time and again that success can only be achieved when the international community joins together and looks beyond the interests of a single country or continent. Thailand believes, therefore, that the international community and each and every stakeholder all have a shared responsibility to promote the United Nations as well as to foster alliances towards a new multilateral system that meets the needs of all citizens.

7. In closing, I wish to assure you of Thailand’s readiness to cooperate with the international community in ensuring that our world builds back better and in a sustainable manner, its citizens enjoy better livelihoods with no one left behind.

8. Thank you.

**********