As he walked through the courtyard towards the ordination hall at Wat Pho, the royal Buddhist temple home to a 46-meter-long golden reclining Buddha, UNESCO Director General Khaled El-Enany paused a moment to admire several of the 1,431 inscriptions and anatomical carvings engraved in the architecture, and to exchange words with a practitioner of Nuad Thai, or traditional Thai massage.
I saw culture in its most human form: memory, education and knowledge serving people every day. The temple’s inscriptions, listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, and its role in transmitting Nuad Thai, listed as intangible cultural heritage in 2019, remind us that knowledge must remain alive and accessible to all.
Khaled El-EnanyUNESCO Director-General
The monastery where monks carved knowledge into stone centuries before the construction of Thailand’s first university, and where the transmission of Nuad Thai continues today, set the tone for UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany’s first official trip to Thailand since taking office in November 2025. On 15 and 16 May, he was received by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador since 2005, and held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and four government ministers. He opened the first-ever Asia-Pacific regional youth dialogue on the future of education and learning beyond 2030, reflecting on their vision for inclusive and quality education for all, and brought together some of Thailand’s leading private-sector players to activate a UNESCO initiative for culture-driven sustainable tourism. The visit marked the 65th anniversary of the UNESCO Regional Office’s establishment in Bangkok.
Established in 1961, the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok covers UNESCO’s mandate across seven countries. It also serves as the Office for UN Coordination in Asia and the Pacific and leads SDG4 coordination across the region.
The importance of that regional mandate was reflected when the Director-General met with Executive Secretary of UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, on the morning of 15 May. They agreed to deepen co-leadership on digital transformation and to hold the Asia-Pacific Ministers of Education meeting alongside the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development in 2027.
In his meeting with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the Director-General proposed that Thailand co-host the Global Education Meeting in 2027, a key milestone in shaping the post-2030 education agenda that builds on the 1990 Jomtien legacy on education for all. UNESCO’s role as Knowledge Partner of Thailand’s National AI Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, was also formalised to advance ethical AI governance as Thailand envisions its second National AI Strategy. With Minister of Education Prasert Jantararuangtong, the Director-General discussed the design and deployment of a nationwide AI competency development package for students and teachers.
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-director-generals-first-visit-thailand-ancient-wisdom-artificial-intelligence
