On 3 December 2014, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the National Legislative Assembly, and Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) delivered statements at the opening of the seminar entitled “On the Path to Reform.”

The seminar was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Secretariat of the House of the Senate and the Secretariat of the House of Representatives with an objective to learn from experiences and lessons on the reform processes of various countries. The seminar was attended by members of National Legislative Assembly, National Reform Council, representatives from Government agencies, academic institutions, and members of the Diplomatic Corps as well as relevant international organisations. The seminar discussed three areas of reforms: political reform, public administration, and local governance.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that the seminar is an important start to a series of activities to be organized by the Ministry of Foreign Afffairs in support of the government’s reform process, which requires contribution from and inclusive participation by all stakeholders in all 11 reform areas.

The participants and speakers include resource persons and experts from foreign countries to share their experiences and lessons learned namely: (1) Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), who offered views on dialogues and the role of parliaments from the international legislative branch; (2) Professor Jose Francisco Pavia from Lusiada University, Portugal, a country where the military historically plays a strong political role, (3) Dr. Nicole Toppperwien, Expert Consultant, Ximpulse, Switzerland, a country with strong citizen participation in local governance; (4) Mr. Keichiro Oizumi, Senior Economist, The Japan Research Institute, Japan and Mr. Jae Hyeok Shin, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Korea University who provide examples of Asian-style democratic countries that recognize the importance of good governance and combatting against corruption; (5) Dr. Allen D. Hicken who was the author of key research on political party, political institution and the formulation of Southeast Asian political policies, (6) from Australia, which is a modern and western style democracy with significant decentralization of state power to local governance, and (7) Mr. Michael Vatikiotis, Regional Director for Asia, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, who is well-known for his vast experience in conflict management and reconciliation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs further added that the reform process belongs to the Thai people, and there is no standard formula. From this seminar series, Thailand will select interesting views that are suitable for the context of Thai society. It is hoped that the seminar will inspire all sectors, support and induce the exchange of views, and propel all sectors to actively and constructively participate in the reform process for the benefits of Thai people and Thai society, leading towards a strong and sustainable democracy.