Editorial | Gita Sabharwal : Inspired UN Resident Coordinator for Thailand

Well, summer is definitely here as the temperatures have risen into the 40s. At the same time, the country has been suffering from a devasting haze. The AQI levels for Chiang Mai and the northern regions have been far above 300-400, well into the purple – very unhealthy, or black, which means hazardous, and Bangkok on some days hasn’t been much better. Bearing this in mind, we are turning our focus in this issue to actions that are being taken to combat these conditions.

We begin with our cover story, an interview with Gita Sabharwal, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Thailand, in which we discuss what the UN is doing here as well as around the region to promote investment of time and money into the promotion of the Bio-Circular-Green economic model and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After this, in our Country Portrait Column, Dr Pichet Durongkaveroj, a former minister and currently executive director of Bangkok Bank, speaks about what Thailand needs to do to alleviate poverty and improve the quality of life for all, particularly when it comes to necessary digital transformation, particularly in food security and eco-friendly transportation and tourism.

Next, we introduce you to the Republic of Korea’s ambassador to Thailand, HE Moon Seoung-hyu, who talks about how Thailand and the ROK have been building strong ties as this year the two countries celebrate 65 years of official bilateral relations.

After this, we talk to Dr Vichak Phongpetra, the CEO and president of Southern Group, which has instituted a Zero Waste policy into its diversified industries, particularly palm oil and minerals mining, in order to preserve resources and protect the environment. In our Sustainable Development column, we review the UNESCO Bangkok “Climatology for Sustainable Development” poster exhibition and multimedia project that aims to educate and reinforce public knowledge and awareness of climate change and its ramifications, to get the public, government and private sectors on board to mitigate this crisis.

We then take you back in time at Ranong’s rustic Koh Chang island in the Andaman Sea, before we travel north once more with Pongpol Adireksarn to visit Nam Nao National Park in Phetchabun and adjacent Phu Khiao Wildlife Sanctuary in Chaiyapum before we finish with our articles on Health; Lifestyle, where we meet Madame Omneya Ahmed Mahmoud Elkouny, the wife of the ambassador of Egypt to Thailand; Literature in which we learn of a writer’s power over life, finally ending with Ezra Kyrill Erker’s photo essay providing us with a glimpse of Europe’s historical Borderland.

Punrit Taechatada
Executive Editor