The selection of Thailand's ambassador to the UN in Geneva as the UN Human Rights Council's president shows that the international community has a good understanding of the situation here, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.
The 40-some countries on the council must have considered Sihasak Phuangketkeow's candidacy well before backing him as the fifth head of the agency tackling human rights violations worldwide, he said.
Since the United States, EU and Asean expressed no criticism over Thailand in their statements, they had accepted the Thai government's handling of the recent political chaos, he said.
The government would now try even harder to push for and support the independent panel investigating the deaths from the recent political violence, he said.
The government would take into account the opinions from foreign NGOs, he said.
He had passed the issues raised by Amnesty International to panel chairman Khanit Na Nakhon.
The Foreign Ministry, Thai trade representatives and other officials took all available opportunities to explain to other countries the current conditions in Thailand.
While ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra had hired lobbyists overseas, everyone in the government was trying to use his connections to explain the state of affairs here to the rest of the world, he said.
What made him happy this time was that even common people were using online social networks to help spread the word, he added.