IOI | 2nd joint IOI/AOA training hosted by Ombudsman of Thailand

Once again the IOI and the AOA joined forces to offer a high-profile training seminar to its members free of charge. The training was generously hosted by the Office of the Ombudsman of Thailand.

The training course was preceded by a one-day international seminar on “Ombudsman: Mechanism for the Fair Nation”, which was held in Bangkok on 30 March 2015 in commemoration of the 15^th anniversary of the establishment of the Thai Ombudsman. In his key note speech on “Ombudsman Mechanism for the fair Nation”, IOI President Adv. John R. Walters congratulated the Office of the Thai Ombudsman for its lasting complaint handling work and stressed that the amount of complaints dealt with by the office prove that citizens turn to the Ombudsman frequently for help and assistance; a fact which clearly shows the importance of this institution. President Walters further stressed that “for an Ombudsman institution to become a mechanism for the fair nation it must ensure that it attains the highest possible standard of performance without bias and with complete integrity.” A further keynote speech was delivered by AOA Secretary and Hong Kong Ombudsman Connie Lau.

The training seminar as such was held from 31 March to 3 April 2015 in Pattaya, Thailand. In his opening speech IOI Secretary General Günther Kräuter focused on the importance of an active an on-going exchange of experience and knowledge between Ombudsman institutions worldwide and demonstrated how the IOI provides an ideal platform for such sharing of expertise by presenting its most recent training initiatives. Secretary General Kräuter concluded by stressing that “successful Ombudsman institutions are in a permanent process of learning. It is therefore enriching if institutions from different countries and different cultural and legal backgrounds work together to mutually inspire and learn from each other.”

The training itself focused on “The Importance of Continuous Improvement in Complaint Handling and Customer Service”. It combined two high-profile workshops tailored by the Ombudsman of New South Wales (Australia), in which participants were able to advance their complaint handling and investigative skills and learnt how to handle unreasonable complainants.