Thanasak Patimaprakorn ( th, ธนะศักดิ์ ปฏิมาประกร; born 9 November 1953) is a Thai military officer who formerly served as its

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. He was appointed by prime minister

Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired Royal Thai Army, army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of T ...

on 1 September 2014 after serving as Thailand's chief of defense forces.

Chief of Defense Forces

Patimaprakorn served as Thailand's chief of defense forces from 2011 to 2014. In this position, he oversaw combat readiness and commanded military operations in all three branches of the

Royal Thai Armed Forces The Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF) ( th, กองทัพไทย; ) are the armed forces of the Kingdom of Thailand. The nominal head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย; ) is the King of Thailand. The armed forces are ...

. His position was at the top of the military chain of command, although in practice he remained subordinate to army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Role in the Cabinet

Deputy-Head of the National Council of Peace and Order

On May 22, 2014, it was announced that Patimaprakorn would serve as the Deputy-Head of the

National Council for Peace and Order The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO; th, คณะรักษาความสงบแห่งชาติ; ; abbreviated ( th, คสช.; )) was the military junta that ruled Thailand between its 2014 Thai coup d'état on 22 M ...

(NCPO). He is one of 11 military officers appointed to the 32-member cabinet. This announcement took place during the Thai military coup of 2014. It was initially thought that the military had no interest in a coup, as Patimaprakorn had made a public statement in early May 2014 suggesting as much. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has stated that the goals of the NCPO are greater political stability and reforms for Thailand, and Patimaprakorn supported that statement in his message to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in September 2014. He stated that Thailand was "not retreating from democracy; it just needed time and space to bring about reconciliation, undertake political reforms and strengthen democratic institutions." In a meeting with U.N. Secretary General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

, Pratimaprakorn has also acknowledged the importance of addressing

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and extremism in Thailand. Pratimaprakorn has also addressed the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE). In his remarks in June 2015, he mentioned the need for combating extremism once again, in addition to expressing a need for greater disaster management in Asia and emphasizing Thailand's efforts to address

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

. He ended his remarks by stating that Thailand would be happy to work as a bridge between OSCE and the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

(ASEAN). Pratimaprakorn has also been vocal in the need to support migrants off the coast of Thailand. In a special meeting attended by 16 powerful countries in the region, Pratimaprakorn urged unity on the issue and said that all countries must work together to solve what is a very complex problem. He also described the actions Thailand is currently taking on the issue, which includes deploying vessels at sea as floating platforms to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pratimaprakorn is responsible for communicating and meeting with foreign governments. One of the major actions he has undertaken in this position is working closely with Prime Minister Chan-o-cha to ensure closer ties with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He has said of the two countries' diplomatic relations, "At this moment we believe this is the best time for our relationship. Especially for my personal contact with minister Wang Yi who is a very nice and polite person.” Yi had similar comments about Pratimaprakorn and about China's relations with Thailand, saying that they are "as close as family members." China and Thailand have recently been working to join hands on projects like infrastructure and clean energy, and Pratimaprakorn has even said that "the China-ASEAN bloc works as more of a community of shared destiny." In January 2015, Pratimapragorn welcomed U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel to Thailand on a visit meant to show that the U.S wanted to be more assertive in its relationship with Thailand. The visit turned controversial, however, after the U.S urged Thailand to end

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

and return to civilian rule. In December 2015, Patimaprakorn also welcomed the Ambassador of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, Kirill Barsky, speaking with him about increasing tourism to Russia from Thailand and preparing to jointly celebrate the 120th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Thailand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patimaprakorn, Thanasak Living people

Thanasak Patimaprakorn Thanasak Patimaprakorn ( th, ธนะศักดิ์ ปฏิมาประกร; born 9 November 1953) is a Thai military officer who formerly served as its deputy prime minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed by prim ...

1953 births