Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand's Ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva was named on Monday as the newest President of the UN Human Rights Council.
The UNHRC is the panel formed in 2006 to tackle human rights violations worldwide.
Sihasak becomes the fifth president of the 47-member Council, which replaced the earlier UN Commission on Human Rights that was scrapped amid concerns about its effectiveness.
He was the candidate of the panel's Asian members.
Sihasak told the Council in Geneva Monday that he wanted to concentrate over the next year on how members can use their "rich diversity" to forge a more united agenda on key human rights issues.
Council members "need to draw synergy from such diversity, recognizing that human rights are indeed universal, indivisible and interdependent, and recognizing… that we all share a common stake in the credibility and effectiveness of the Council as a whole," he said.
He succeeds Alex van Meeuwen of Belgium as the Council's President.
Sihasak was former Thai foreign ministry's spokesman and deputy permanent secretary.