UNGA MIDDLE EAST RESOLUTIONS: THAILAND TO CONTINUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 003471 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP, DRL, IO; NSC FOR PHU; IO/UNP FOR ANDREW MORRISON E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL TH SUBJECT: UNGA MIDDLE EAST RESOLUTIONS: THAILAND TO CONTINUE TO ABSTAIN ON COUNTRY-SPECIFIC RESOLUTIONS REF: A. SECSTATE 123081 ¶B. BANGKOK 3366 (AMBASSADOR RAISES) Classified By: Political Counselor George Kent, Reason 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) We delivered ref A points on the misallocation of UNGA time and resources to anti-Israel resolutions to Thai MFA Deputy Director-General of International Organizations Ittiporn Boonpracong on November 25. Ittiporn responded that the RTG would maintain its past voting record of abstaining on all country-specific UNGA human rights-related resolutions. While the RTG position is reviewed yearly, no recent events merited a change in policy, he said. ¶2. (C) Ittiporn indicated that in the wake of the Ambassador's November 10 request to MFA Permanent Secretary Virasakdi Futrakul (ref B) to vote against no-action motions regarding Burma and Iran, Virasakdi had initiated an internal discussion between IO and the RTG missions in Geneva and New York. Ittiporn told us that the French and Australians had also approached him about the Thai position favoring no-action motions. The MFA had concluded after the review that it would maintain its current voting posture. Ittiporn claimed that a vote of no-motion did not necessarily mean "no discussion" or "no-action"; diplomatic debate would occur regardless. Echoing PermSec Virasakdi's arguments, Ittiporn suggested there were more effective ways of addressing the underlying concerns than the country resolutions. JOHN