On April 12, 2023, the Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission of the Royal Thai Embassy, Dr. Orathai Phubunlap Gunaseelan gave a guest lecture on topic: “Thailand’s achievement on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG5): A perspective from the Foreign Service sphere of Thailand”. The lecture was held for the university community: students, faculty and staff. The topic of the lecture attracted a lot of attention among the female half of the community.
According to information from the UN website, SDG5 is gender equality; in particular, the goal is to: “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. Dr.Gunaseelan spoke that the percentage of women in leadership positions in Thailand is higher than in the Asia-Pacific region and higher than the global average. In the field of the country’s Foreign Service, the number of female foreign-service officials as diplomats at Thailand’s overseas postings accounted for 58.90% in 2019, however, the number of female Ambassadors was only 28.57%. At the end the lecture, Dr. Gunaseelan urged girls to support each other in all areas of life for the overall achievement of SDG 5 and also noted the efforts of NU in generating research related to equity and the advancement of women in all areas, including education.
Dr. Gunaseelan has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (Russia); she also has a Ph.D. in Graduate School of Human Resource and Organizational Development from National Institute of Development Administration (Thailand). Before her appointment in Kazakhstan, she held a position of the Head of Pattaya Passport Temporary Office (Thailand). Dr. Gunaseelan is fluent in English and Russian.
