Summary of Weekly Press Briefing

Thursday, 11 August 2022 at 17:00 hours

Press Conference Room, MFA and via MFA Facebook Live

1. The 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings (2 -  5 August 2022)

• DPM/FM Don participated in the 55th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Foreign Ministers and representatives from 39 countries and organisations also attended this important annual gathering. There were 17 ministerial meetings, and 11 outcome documents were adopted.
• DPM/FM expressed Thailand’s support for Cambodia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN, and, as Coordinator of Sustainable Development, urged for closer cooperation on sustainable development. On international and regional issues, he called for ASEAN unity and solidarity in addressing challenges and underlined the importance of asserting an ASEAN common position vis-à-vis various international security issues, including the situation in Myanmar.
• DPM/FM also took part in ASEAN Post ministerial Conferences with ASEAN dialogue partners consisting of 10 countries and 1 organisation, namely, China, Japan, South Korea, India, US, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK, and EU. The meetings aimed to strengthen the partnership and cooperation between ASEAN and dialogue partners.
• DPM/FM also participated in the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Ministerial Meeting, the East Asia Summit (EAS), and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), in which delegates exchanged views and expressed concern about regional and global issues. These included the Taiwan Strait, Ukraine, the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, and Myanmar. The majority of the meetings urged all sides to negotiate for a peaceful settlement in accordance with the international law.
• DPM/FM congratulated the Mekong Institute in receiving the 2021 ASEAN Prize for its prominent roles in raising ASEAN awareness, promoting sub-regional cooperation, reinforcing the ASEAN Community, as well as advancing sustainable socio-economic development and narrowing intra-regional development gap.
• DPM/FM took an opportunity in bilateral meetings with FMs of China, Russia, South Korea, Timor-Leste, Pakistan, Greece, Australia, and Canada to foster respective bilateral relations. Among other topics, the situation in Myanmar and Thailand’s role remained in many countries’ attention.

2. The Nat’l Committee on the Preparation of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and Related Meetings (8 Aug 2022)

• PM Prayut chaired the meeting of the Nat’l Committee on the Preparation of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and Related Meetings in 2022 no. 2/2022 at the Gov’t House. DPM/FM also attended.
• PM acknowledged the progress of Thailand’s preparation for hosting the 2022 APEC in terms of themes and topics, formalities and administration, security and traffic, and public relations. PM also attached importance to public relations as a key to raising public awareness on the roles of Thailand and the deliverables of APEC 2022 under the Thai host year in relation to global trends and Thailand.
• The Meeting agreed to announce a special holiday for Bangkok on 16-18 November 2022 to reduce traffic, facilitate the transportation of delegates, and guarantee their security. Commemorative coins would also be issued to mark Thailand’s APEC host year.

3. The 14^th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JC) and the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Committee on Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas (JDS) between Thailand and Malaysia (9-10 August 22)

• DPM/FM and the Honourable Dato’ Sri Saifuddin Abdullah, FM of Malaysia, co-chaired the 14^th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JC) and the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Committee on Joint Development Strategy for Border Areas (JDS) between Thailand and Malaysia, in Bangkok. The Meetings were conducted in an amicable atmosphere, and the discussions were constructive.
• The Meetings were held under the theme “Fostering Resilience in Times of Challenges,” which reflects the need for Thailand and Malaysia to strategise and enhance their cooperation in order to promote resilience of the two countries and enable them to better cope with unprecedented challenges. To achieve these goals, the Meetings focused their discussion on “3Ps,” which cover of the following areas:
  • Protection of the People (e.g., border management, transnational crimes, non-traditional security issues)
  • Promotion of Prosperity (e.g., trade, tourism, connectivity, digital economy, labour)
  • Enhancing Partnership (e.g., people-to-people relations, regional and multilateral cooperation)
• FM of Malaysia also called on PM Prayut at the Gov’t House on 9 August 2022 and held a joint press conference the Meeting.

4. The deportation of Thais from South Korea (27 June – 15 July 2022)

• Regarding the entry refusal of Thais in Jeju Island, South Korea and their subsequent deportation by the immigration authorities, MFA stated as follows:
• Recently, the South Korean immigration officials had denied entry of Thais who may have arrived to work illegally in South Korea, including the case above.
• Since 1 April 2022, Thais may visit and stay in South Korea for tourism purpose up to 90 days if they obtain a Korean Electronic Authorization (K-ETA) and Q-Code—both of which can be filled online.
• Currently, there is no K-ETA requirement for Jeju; however Thais with the K-ETA document may still be detained and returned home if the immigration officials suspected they had intended to illegally look for work.
• For more information, please scan the QR code (or visit https://www.immigration.go.kr/immigration_eng/index.do) or call RTE Seoul at (+82) 10 6747 0095 and (+82) 10 7275 2955.
• As of June 2022, there is a total 181,783 Thais in South Korea, 139,245 of which entered the country illegally. The number of Thais under charged by the South Korean authorities is 532. Thais with permission to enter South Korea may still face legal consequences if they violate the law, as in the following cases: 
• (1) Those who stay for more than 90 days will be punished with a fine. It is possible not to pay the fine, but they will not be allowed to re-enter South Korea in the future and will be detained for 1 week before being deported back to Thailand. They will also be responsible for the travel expenses.
• (2) Those who are arrested for illegal work will be detained. If there are no other criminal records, they will usually be sent back to Thailand within 1 week and will be responsible for all the expenses for departure.
• MFA wished to warn Thai people that seeking illegal work opportunities does not only violate South Korea’s law and but also adversely affects the image of Thai people living abroad.

Weekly Press Briefing:  https://fb.watch/eQz_7lBzwv/

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Press Division
Department of Information