Former Asean sec-gen Surin dies of heart attack
BANGKOK: Former Association of Southeast Asian Nations SecretaryGeneral Surin Pitsuwan (pic) has died in Thailand. He was 68.
Thailand’s Democrat Party said Surin died yesterday in Bangkok of a sudden heart attack.
Surin was a former lawmaker from the party who also served as Thailand’s foreign minister in the late 1990s under a Democrat-led government. He is best known for his time at the head of the 10-member Asean from 2008 until 2012.
His name was also mentioned as a possible candidate for United Nations secretary-general.
A native of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, he was a fellow of The Rockefeller Fellowship Programme,
The Rockefeller Foundation, Harvard University and American University, Cairo.
He earned his Master of
Arts degree at Harvard University and did research at the American University in Cairo as a scholar of the Institute of Higher Council for Islamic Affairs of Egypt from 1975 until 1977 before returning to Harvard, where he received his doctorate in 1982.
Surin remained active in regional diplomatic circles.
He was also one of the few non-Malaysians with a very high Malaysian honorific, having been awarded the PSM Kehormat (Tan Sri) title from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 2015.
Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Surin “contributed greatly to the advancement and interest of Asean, as well as the promotion of Asean.
His outstanding personality, knowledge and wisdom were truly recognised by global leaders”.
Surin appeared to be in good health before he died. Posts on his official Facebook page showed him visiting a Bangkok co-working space on Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, Surin spoke at a conference marking the 50th anniversary of Asean.
His remarks, punctuated with emphasis in his trademark deep voice, lauded cooperative organisations such as Asean as a means of “creating a space for the region to talk to itself ”.
“Be ourselves,” he said of Asean nations. “Be self-sufficient. Be helpful to each other before we wait for contributions from the outside.”