THAILAND | Second meeting under MOU with Ombudsman of New Zealand

On 2 November 2022, at the Centara Grand Hotel Central Plaza Ladprao in Bangkok, Mr. Somsak Suwansujarit Chief Ombudsman of Thailand, along with Assoc. Prof. Issaree Hunsacharoonroj and Mr. Songsak Saicheua, Thailand Ombudsman; Mr. Keirov Kritteeranon, Secretary-General of the Office of the Ombudsman; Director of International Affairs Bureau, and international relations officers attended the second Ombudsman-level meeting under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on bilateral cooperation between the Ombudsman of Thailand and the Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand. The delegation from the New Zealand office included Mr. Peter Boshier, New Zealand Chief Ombudsman; Mr. Alex Schroder, Assistant Ombudsman and Ms. Jordana Dawson Hayes, Manager of International Development & Engagement.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of activities in accordance with the plan for cooperative activities of the year 2022, and jointly considered a directive and policy for bilateral activities for the following year.

Both sides agreed to continuously hold cooperative activities in areas that include exchanging of knowledge and example of cases, capacity building for the staff through a joint training that emphasizes more on investigation, an academic activity to build on a comparative study of the Ombudsman systems of both countries, cultural competency training for New Zealand to improve quality of service for Thai complainants in New Zealand, as well as other subjects that each party has an expertise in.

The Ombudsman-level meeting is an activity that drives the mechanism of procedure in accordance with the MOU between both organisations. This meeting is held annually to consider the procedure under the cooperative framework, together with offers for additional or brand-new activities, as well as discussion of other related topics, as recommended by the joint technical working group (JTWG).

The meeting was held in parallel with the occasion that the Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand and his colleagues had come to attend the meetings of the Southeast Asian Ombudsman Forum (SEAOF and SEAOF+ Meetings), which were held between 30 October – 3 November 2022, in Bangkok.

Signing MOU with Omudsman Timor-Leste

The Chief Ombudsman of Thailand took the opportunity of the SEAOF meetings to also sign a MOU with the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice of Timor-Leste.

On 2 November 2022, at the Centara Grand Hotel Central Plaza Ladprao in Bangkok, Mr. Somsak Suwansujarit, Chief Ombudsman of Thailand, and Ms. Jesuina Maria Ferreira Gomes, Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice of Timor-Leste, officially signed an MOU, which reflects strong intent and earnestness of both parties to collaboratively enhance efficiency and effectiveness in delivering results. 

The establishment of the MOU aims at identifying areas of cooperation including complaint handling and management, exchange of knowledge and information on policies and best practices, development of capacity-building workshops and development of bilateral advocacy plans to promote good governance, etc. 

This formal bilateral collaboration will lead to enhancement of the respective institutions on promoting fairness, fostering protection of people’s rights, as well as supporting Ombudsmanship development and good public governance for the benefit of the people of the two countries.

Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Thailand