H E Mom Luang Pin Malakul

Report of H E Mom Luang Pin Malakul
Minister of Education, to H E the Prime Minister
at
The Ceremony of Laying the Foundation Stone of the Building
To house the UNESCO and SEAMES Offices
Friday, January 3, 1969

Your Excellency,

I myself and Ministry of Education officials feel greatly honoured by, and deeply appreciative of, Your Excellency's kindness in coming to preside over the Ceremony of Laying the Foundation Stone of the building to house the offices of 2 international organizations, namely, the Regional Office for Asia of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat or SEAMES.

On this occasion I should like to present to Your Excellency an account in brief of the co-operation between Thailand and the two organizations. At the end of the Second World War, there were founded the United Nations Organization and its specialized agencies. Thailand's attempt to co-operate with these bodies is evidenced by its eagerness to become a member at the earliest possible moment. In particular, it was admitted to UNESCO on January 1, B E 2492 (1949 A D), and at present our membership in the Organization has already passed the 20th year mark. After Thailand become UNESCO member, experts were sent to work in various projects such as the educational project which was known as the Chachoengsao Project. As the number of projects increased, so did the number of experts, and it was necessary to establish the Office of the Chief Expert, which was originally located in the Ministry of Education. Later on, the Office was moved to several other locations and was finally installed in a group of rooms in the building which had formerly house the now-defunct Ministry of Culture on the Sanam Sua Pa compound.

In B E 2503 (1960 A D) UNESCO adopted the principle of assisting the member nations by regional groups such as the South America group, the Middle East group and the Asia group. For each group there had to be an office called "Regional Office". As regards the Regional Office for Asia, UNESCO put to the Thai government a request to place it in Bangkok. As a result, the Office of the Chief Expert was expanded to become the Regional Office for Asia. It was also felt that a newly-constructed building was needed to house the Regional office.

Late in B E 2508 (1965 A D) UNESCO held a conference of the Ministers of Education of the Asia group in Bangkok. On November 30, the day following the close of the conference, the Ministers of Education of some Southeast Asian countries met at the Thai Ministry of Education to discuss possible mutual co-operation and assistance in education. This meeting resulted in the establishment of the Office of the Secretariat of the Organization of the Ministers of Education of the Southeast Asia group which is called SEAMES for short. This was an interim office with Dr Kaw Swasdi Panich as its acting director. It was first located within the Ministry of Education and was afterward moved to the Educational Materials Centre on the Teachers Council compound.

Early in B E 2511 (1968 A D) the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education met in Singapore at the 3rd annual conference of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Council, and voted on February 6 to put the permanent SEAMES Office in Bangkok and to appoint Mr Sukich Nimmanheminda as the first Director of the Office. It is noteworthy here that UNESCO has given its endorsement of SEAMES ever since the inception of the latter.

The need for a building to house the UNESCO Regional Office has already been recognized. Now SEAMES is adding a new weight to this need, so the Ministry of Education presented the case to Your Excellency and to the Cabinet. With Your Excellency's kind support, the Cabinet thus saw fit to grant a sum of 12 million baht for construction of the building. The Ministry of Education will therefore proceed to have the building constructed for use by UNESCO and SEAMES. Under the arrangement some economy will be achieved in that certain parts of the building, such as the main conference room and the dining room, can be shared by both the Organizations.

The site of the building for these two Offices is on Sukhumvit Road with an area of 6.2 rai. The building will be 5-storeyed, square-shaped and 35 meters long on each side. Mr Khian Suwansingh and M R Biradej Chakrabandhu are the architects, and Mr Kumut Kiatfuangfoo and
Mr Niyom Riansuwan the engineers. The Wiwat Construction Limited Partnership won the bid to construct the building at 11.6 million baht. A separate bid is yet to be held for construction of the furniture.

Your Excellency, the auspicious moment has arrived, and I beg to obtain your permission for the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office and the Director of SEAMES respectively to deliver their addresses. And then, to augur well for international co-operation, I respectfully beg Your Excellency to be so kind as to deliver an address and lay the foundation stone of this building which will house the Offices of the two Organizations.

Last updated: 08 November 2001
Last updated: 08 November 2001	Back	Top	Next