Surin Pitsuwan holds the Asean Charter booklet at the Bangkok Post Forum 2017 in November. As someone who was attuned to think ing"outside the box," Surin came up with answers for Thailand and Asean that seem improbable. Around then, the five-year term of Asean Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong from Singapore was about to wind down. After leaving the secretary-general post, Surin was still in high demand for all things related to Asean. As he was a public service executive by training and preference, Surin had nowhere left to aim but the Bangkok governorship.

Source: Bangkok Post December 14, 2017 23:48 UTC