Mrs. Suphanvasa Chotikajan Tang, Director-General of the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs headed the Thai Delegation to the 61st Annual Session of Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) on 16-20 October 2023 in Bali, Indonesia. At the opening session, Mrs. Tang delivered a statement reiterating Thailand’s support for AALCO and Thailand’s view on various issues such as Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and climate change. Mrs. Tang also registered Thailand’s wish to host the next Annual Session of AALCO which has gained wide support from all Member States.

AALCO was initially constituted as a non-permanent Committee in 1956 and later obtained its international organization status in 1987.  It currently composes of 47 Member States from Asian and African regions. Thailand became the ninth members of AALCO in 1961 and recently in 2021, Dr. Kamalinne Pinitpuvadol, a Thai lawyer and a former Secretary-General of the International Law Association of Thailand, was elected to serve as the seventh Secretary-General of AALCO for the term 2022-2025. AALCO is the only forum that unites legal advisors from Asia and Africa and plays a crucial role in reflecting views of the regions on different topics of international law. AALCO Secretariat is seated in New Delhi, India.