On 29 September 2026, H.E. Mr. Cherdchai Chaivaivid, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations in New York, delivered a statement at the high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, observed annually on 26 September.

Conflicts around the world are becoming more protracted and complex, while nuclear-weapon States are expanding and modernising their arsenals. Today's nuclear weapons are many times more destructive than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 81 years ago. The meeting was therefore an important opportunity for the international community to reaffirm its shared commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons by building trust, reducing the risk of nuclear weapons use, and preventing harm to people and the environment.

Thailand called for urgent action in three areas:

1. Nuclear-weapon States should implement their disarmament obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in a concrete, measurable, and time-bound manner.
2. Cooperation to address the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons should be strengthened. Thailand welcomed progress on victim assistance and environmental remediation, as well as on the scientific study of the effects of nuclear war.
3. Complementarity among disarmament frameworks should be enhanced. Thailand and Ireland are jointly advancing this work under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Thailand also called for the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). It further urged the nuclear-weapon States to sign and ratify the Protocol to the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (Bangkok Treaty) without reservations.