“ASEAN Day” on 8th August 2014: Commemorating the 47th Anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s Department of ASEAN Affairs, will host ASEAN Day on Friday, 8 August, 2014  to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN at the Ministry, Sri Ayutthaya Road.  ASEAN Ambassadors, Friends of ASEAN, and the local media are invited to join the opening ceremony. Over 600 students and teachers from 80 schools nationwide will also participate in the event. The commemoration will highlight Thailand’s long-standing relationship with ASEAN and Thailand’s ongoing preparations for the ASEAN Community in 2015 as part of its national agenda. The aim of the event is to further elevate awareness and understanding of the ASEAN community among the Thai public, especially at the youth level.

After opening ceremony, which will commence with the raising of the Thai national flag and the ASEAN flag, followed by ASEAN anthem, “The ASEAN Way”, the main activities in the morning session will include an ‘ASEAN Quiz’ national competition for secondary school students, exhibition on ASEAN, an exhibition on 100th anniversary of Dr. Thanat Khoman’s life achievements, ASEAN mini-games, ASEAN food stalls, and a work display from the ASEAN Association of Thailand.

As the main highlight of the event a seminar in titled “100 years of Dr. Thanat Khoman: ASEAN from its birth towards a peaceful and prosperous community”  will be organized by the Department of ASEAN Affairs in cooperation with the ASEAN Association of Thailand will organize at the Vites Samosorn Hall. Khunying Laxanachantorn Laohaphan, the President of the ASEAN Association of Thailand, has invited former ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan as keynote speaker. Other esteemed panelists include:
1. Dr. Phan Wannamethee, former ASEAN Secretary-General and Secretary General of the Thai Red Cross.
2. Dr. Chulacheep Chinwanno, Associate Professor at Thammasat University.
3. Mr. Kiatichai Pongpanich, Senior Editor of Khao Sod Newspaper.
4. Mr. Manasvi Srisodapol, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (moderator)

This seminar is open to the public, and all interested parties and persons are invited to freely join.         

The Department of ASEAN Affairs, in capacity as the National ASEAN Secretariat, organizes the “ASEAN Day” annually to promote awareness and understanding of the ASEAN Community among the Thai public. This endeavor will help raise the young generation’s preparedness for Thailand’s future in the ASEAN Community.