Surin Pitsuwan attended Thammasat University for two years before winning a scholarship from Claremont Men’s College, Claremont, California, to complete his B.A in Political Science (cum laude) in 1972. He then went on to Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A, where he received his M.A and PhD in 1974 and 1982 respectively, in the field of Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies. His entire Harvard career was supported by the Winston S. Churchill Association and Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships.
As an MP he was appointed Secretary to the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Chuan Leekpai), Secretary to Deputy Minister of Interior, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs during 1992-1995 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 2001. He served as Chair of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and the Chair of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1999-2000. In September 1999, while the ASEAN Chair, he led the efforts to get Southeast Asian governments to help restore law and order, and that joint undertaking, with the support of the United National and the international community, brought about peace and security in East Timor.
Upon leaving the foreign affairs portfolio in mid-2001, Surin was appointed a member of the Commission on Human Security of the United Nations until 2003. He also served as an adviser to the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty from 1999-2001. In 2002, he concurrently served on the ILO’s World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalization until 2004. He also served in the Advisory Board of the UN Human Security Trust Fund; the Advisory Board of the International Crisis Group (ICG); a member of the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York; an International Academic Adviser of the Leaders Project and a conference arm of the Cohen Group of former US Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Washington D.C.
Surin was a Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party, Thailand. He also served on the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), charged with bringing peace back to Thailand’s deep South. He also served as MP in the National Legislative Assembly (NLA). He served as ASEAN Secretary General for the term 2008-2012.
Surin served as CALD Chair from 1993-1995.
