Saving Thailand’s UN Security Council seat

Thailand’s poor performance at its United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has strengthened speculation that its pathway to a Security Council seat has been jeopardised. For several years, the country has been lobbying for one of the 10 non-permanent member seats. If elected, it would replace Malaysia as one of the three Asia-Pacific members. However, the chances of Thailand’s application being vetoed by one or more of the permanent members are increasing, and the country desperately needs a diplomatic coup if its seat is to be assured.

Thailand’s election as leader of the G77 last year was seen as a vote of confidence in its diplomatic ability by the 134-member group of the Global South and the Middle East. However, three of the five permanent members of the Security Council, namely Britain, the United States and France, have expressed extreme disquiet at the junta’s human rights violations. The UPR raised multiple serious issues, including the lack of a role for the media and the people in debating Thailand’s second-ever referendum, a point underlined by a recent EU delegation, which highlighted the present climate of intimidation.

It is both the sheer quantity as well as the nature of the recommendations which have caused concern for the mandarins at the Foreign Ministry, responsible for shepherding Thailand’s precipitous path to the seat. This month, Thailand received 249 recommendations from 97 UN member states. It accepted 181 recommendations, though its implementation of those recommendations is tied to return to civilian rule.

Thailand’s promise to respond to the remaining 68 recommendations by the time of the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, in September, may be construed as simply buying time on some of the more trying issues. For instance, 12 recommendations that military trials for civilians be scrapped were side-stepped on the grounds that Thailand’s use of military trials was limited and that defendants received the same rights as under civilian trials, including fair hearings under impartial and public tribunals.

The reality is that 1,629 individuals were tried in secretive military courts between May 22, 2014, and September 30, 2015, with military judges having no independence from the executive and there being no right to appeal. The dissembling stance the Thai delegation was forced by circumstances to adopt is contrary to the 12 Core Values declared by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and to basic Buddhist tenets. As is clear in the sixth core value, maintaining integrity is vital to Thainess. Only in extreme, life-threatening situations are Buddhists permitted to dissemble, as the Parable of the Burning House in the Lotus Sutra makes clear. 

However, the military junta’s stance on Article 112 of the Criminal Code on lese-majeste ultimately poses the greatest threat to Thailand’s hopes for the seat. While the Thai delegation accepted 11 of 26 recommendations on freedom of expression and opinion, it was forced by the junta’s logic to reject eight recommendations calling for the softening of Article 112. This is despite the fact that Thai military investigators have initiated a police state by blurring the line between the public and private spheres through charging the mother of a student activist with lese-majeste on Facebook – a line of logic which would render impossible any legitimate preparations for the succession from the Privy Council down.

Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy

The use of lese-majeste law by the junta is particularly tragic if we bear in mind that it is a gift of the monarchy which has the greatest chance of achieving the diplomatic push necessary for obtaining the seat. That gift is the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy (PSE), a form of Buddhist economics adopted in principle by Thailand since 1999. Last year, every single month was the hottest globally on record, and Asean has already suffered approximately US$10 billion in damages from this year’s drought. By 2060, it is predicted that there will be one billion climate refugees, including millions fleeing Bangkok’s rising sea levels. If ever the world needed a holistic philosophy emphasising resilience, moderation, sustainability and a healthy respect for the environment, it is now. 

However, the PSE has not been taken seriously by the rest of the world, mainly because concern about lese-majeste means independent research on PSE projects, together with peer-reviewed publications, are rendered impossible by the climate of fear induced by Article 112. This is despite the obvious benefits of flagship PSE projects, such as the Doi Kham brand, which has reduced environmental degradation and weaned mountain peoples off opium while offering them a steady income.

Yet the potential for an astute diplomatic accomplishment is there. The leader of the G77 is typically an ineffectual placeholder, with the bloc divided at last year’s UN convention on climate change due to many member-countries still being wedded to oil and coal. For Thailand to actually lead the G77, it must look to unite the group as a negotiating bloc and to initiate North-South negotiations regarding the precise terms of technology transfer and funding under the Paris Agreement on climate change. This requires Thailand to lead the G77 in partnering with the West in finding a way to reduce both the West’s and the developing countries’ dependence on coal and fossil fuels, while respecting the position that some countries will never adopt nuclear fission.

The first route towards this common goal would be a coordinated North-South Solar road map involving the accelerated development, transfer, and installation of ever-cheaper community and mega-project photo-voltaic plants, with subsidies for electricity storage and electric vehicles. The second route would be the G77 investigating alternative, low-end commercial routes towards nuclear fusion, given the emerging consensus that this may now only be a decade away and Malaysian moves in this direction last year via its sovereign wealth fund. To overcome the damage to Thailand’s reputation so that it can stand proud amid the international community, Thailand would be well advised to lead the G77 in pursuing both routes and to thereby demonstrate that the PSE can indeed benefit the entire world.

 

JOHN DRAPER is a Khon Kaen-based analyst and lecturer at the College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University.

PEERASIT KAMNUANSILPA, Phd, is founder and former dean of the College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University.