Statement by the Delegation of Thailand

H.E. Mr. Sek Wannamethee

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva
Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention

Vienna, Austria | 18 December 2017

Agenda 7: General exchange of views

Mr. President,

On behalf of my delegation, allow me to convey our appreciation to you and the Austrian Government for your warm hospitality. Our appreciation also goes to the Implementation Support Unit for their dedication and hard work in support for work of the Convention.

Mr. President,

At the outset, let me congratulate Sri Lanka for its accession to the Convention and we look forward to working closely with Sri Lanka to strengthen international mine action.

This is a historic year for the Convention. For the past two decades, we have achieved so much together; nonetheless, work is far from being complete.

For Thailand, our commitment remains unwavering. We have so far declared 80 percent of our originally contaminated lands mine-free. However, despite our hard work and effort, more work still needs to be fulfilled. Therefore, we have submitted to the States Parties’ consideration a request for an extension of the deadline for antipersonnel mine clearance in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention for a period of 5 years, from 1 November 2018 to 31 October 2023.

Mr. President,

Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Thailand is optimistic that our aspiration of becoming a mine-free country by 2023 is not beyond reach. And we say this with strong confidence.

Fulfilling the Convention’s obligations has our commitment at the highest level. The National Committee for Mine Action, chaired by H.E. the Prime Minister, has been re-established to improve inter-agency coordination efforts towards the completion of the task. The Committee comprises of high-level authorities to provide guidance for synchronized mine action implementation. The Committee will also focus on discussing demining in border areas with our neighboring friends. We believe this approach will be the key in expediting our clearance work and keeping us on the right track towards the end.

Mr. President,

Thailand attaches great importance and have been participating actively on the work of the Convention. During our term as the Chair of the Committee on Victim Assistance in 2016, we, together with our partners, developed the Guidance on Victim Assistance Reporting. And this year, the publication of the Guidance in Spanish and French will be launched during the breakfast side event which will be held tomorrow morning from 8.30 – 9.50 am at Room M7. We invite you all to attend.

In addition, Thailand has expressed our interest to serve as a member for the Committee on the Enhancement of Cooperation and Assistance for the 17MSP-18MSP terms, which will later be considered under Agenda Item 17. We seek all States’ kind support in this regard.

Mr. President,

My delegation looks forward to working closely with all States Parties in a constructive manner. You can count on my delegation’s full support.

Thank you.