Asia Society Live-Webcast With Special Envoy Kiat Sittheeamorn

The Asia Society, a US-based non-profit pan-Asia organization, will host a live webcast event with Kiat Sittheeamorn, a member of the Democrat Party and currently Thai Special Envoy to New York and Washington. The event takes place Monday, June 14 beginning at 4 PM EST / 10 PM CEST / 3 AM Bangkok time and will be streamed live at www.AsiaSociety.org/Live. The topic will be (of course) the current situation in Thailand. A recent interview with Politico gives a taste of Kiat's (and ultimately the government's) talking points. Excerpt:

POLITICO: What is the purpose of your visit here?

Sittheeamorn: Things are more or less back to normal. We tried to monitor the views of various countries, and what we have observed is that some of the international media’s reporting in the past few weeks has been a little bit incomplete, in many cases inaccurate.

"Interview with Thailand's special envoy", POLITICO, June 11, 2010

Earlier this weekend Kiat was in Washington D.C. and met with diplomats to basically say that everything is in control and they do not need the US (or anyone else) to act as a mediator.

A special envoy from Thailand has sought US support in the country's political crisis, discouraging the kingdom's longtime ally from trying to mediate in the wake of bloody street protests. (...)

Kiat, who met with members of Congress and President Barack Obama's administration on Friday, said that the Thai government welcomed US "suggestions" but was pursuing its own reconciliation plan.

"We ourselves also see some difficulties in negotiating and discussing with the Red Shirts," Kiat told AFP. "If the US extends a helping hand, I don't know if it will have different results."

"There is also the risk that it might complicate the issue even further," said Kiat, who is Thailand's trade negotiator.

"Thai government tells US it's in charge", AFP, June 12, 2010