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Thai rulers back Surakiart for U.N. post

P.S. Suryanarayana

Surakiart Sathirathai is a political associate of Thaksin Shinawatra

SINGAPORE: Thailand's new military rulers have extended support to their compatriot, Surakiart Sathirathai, as the candidate of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the post of United Nations Secretary-General.

This was indicated by ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong, when contacted by The Hindu over the telephone on Thursday night, following a media report in Bangkok that another leader from Thailand, Surin Pitsuwan, might find favour with the United States as a candidate for the top U.N. post.

Mr. Surin was Foreign Minister under the Chuan Leekpai administration until 2001.

About the emergence of Mr. Surin's name as a possible U.S.-backed candidate, Mr. Ong said "there may be something on the ground, but not [anything] substantive" at this stage.

He said the Thai military leaders were "still backing" Dr. Surakiart's candidature as announced by them a day after the coup.

Dr. Surakiart, until recently a political associate of deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was now in the field as the ASEAN's candidate.

Mr. Surin, like the Thai coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, is a Muslim in the majority-Buddhist Thailand. Dr. Surakiart belongs to the majority community, and it is not immediately clear whether this aspect will be a factor in the calculations of the U.S. and other major powers at the U.N.

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