Press Release

United Nations thanks Thailand for its contribution to peacekeeping

23 August 2021

New York, 23 August 2021 - Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix expressed gratitude to Thailand for its support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military personnel deployed under the UN flag.

Thailand has 296 military and police personnel, including 13 women, currently serving in two UN peace operations. Thailand’s largest contribution is to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and it also provides military observers to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

Over the past three decades, Thailand has provided peacekeepers to various UN peace operations, including in Cambodia, Lebanon, Iraq, Timor-Leste, Burundi, Haiti and Liberia. “The sustained commitment of Thailand to UN Peacekeeping is appreciated by the United Nations,” said Mr. Lacroix.

“Thai troops have demonstrated a high-level of professionalism and dedication, and we are deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice”, Mr. Lacroix added.

During Thailand’s decades’ long contribution to UN Peacekeeping, eight of its personnel have lost their lives while serving under the UN flag,

Thailand supports the Secretary-General’s ‘Action for Peacekeeping’ (A4P) initiative, which calls on Member States, the Security Council, host countries, troop- and police-contributing countries, regional partners and financial contributors to renew our collective engagement with UN peacekeeping and mutually commit to reach for excellence.

Note to editors:

The UN's Department of Global Communications runs the international multi-year communications campaign titled 'UN Peacekeeping -- Service and Sacrifice.' The campaign expresses the world body's gratitude to the countries that contribute their uniformed men and women to serve in the peacekeeping missions. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/service-and-sacrifice



Since 1948, more than a million women and men have served as UN peacekeepers. Every day, they make a tangible difference in the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people, and every day they save lives. Peacekeeping is a unique force with military and police personnel from over 120 countries serving together, alongside civilian colleagues. UN peacekeepers come from diverse cultures and speak different languages, but share a common purpose: the protection of vulnerable communities and the provision of support to countries struggling to move from conflict to peace. Tragically some make the ultimate sacrifice - over 3,500 peacekeepers have lost their lives in the cause of peace. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/what-is-peacekeeping



Action for Peacekeeping: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p



Media enquiries in Thailand:

Office of the Resident Coordinator (Bangkok)

Bovornpong Vathanathanakul

Communications Officer

UN Resident Coordinator Office in Thailand

Phone: +66 86 397 3369

Email: bovornpong.vathanathanakul@un.org



Media enquiries in South Sudan (UNMISS):

Priyanka Chowdhury

Head of Multimedia Communications & Public Information

E-mail: chowdhury20@un.org

Desk: 190-2872; Mobile: +211 912108281



Media enquiries at UNHQ:

Department of Global Communications (New York):

Douglas Coffman

Phone: + 1 917 361 9923

Email: coffmand@un.org



Valerie Mainil-Varlet

Phone: +1 929 213 8113

Email: mainil-varlet@un.org



Department of Peace Operations

Hector Calderon

Phone: + 1 212 963 4203

Email: Hector.calderon@un.org

UN entities involved in this initiative

RCO
United Nations Resident Coordinator Office
UNDGC
United Nations Department of Global Communications
UNDPO
Department of Peace Operations

Goals we are supporting through this initiative