Readers who do not subscribe to the Thailand, Laos and Cambodia Studies Group listserve may have missed the public release of the script of Surat Horachaikul’s speech at the ANU on 22 August 2007.

Here at New Mandala we have already provided substantial commentary on the Thai government sponsored missions to Europe and to Australia that have been spearheaded by Chulalongkorn University’s Surat. The full text of his ANU speech is now available.

Surat begins by arguing that:

Our mission here is to provide factual information and draw the conclusion from it. Particularly, we are also here for those who are interested in learning more about the ongoing democratization of the country. Also, it is noteworthy to inform you that when Thaksin, Thaksin’s cronies and/or supporters and the international media continue to mislead people, it is necessary that we need to correct the misled information. We are here for our country and we are here to seek justice for our country.

As always, comments from New Mandala readers are very welcome.