The last surviving "Founding Father" of ASEAN, Thanat Khoman, has died at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok. He was 101 years old.
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From left, Philippine foreign secretary Narcio Ramos, Indonesian foreign minister Adam Malik, Thai foreign minister Thanat Khoman, Malaysian deputy premier Abdul Razak and Singapore foreign minister S Rajaratnam stand before their national flags at the Foreign Ministry on Aug 8, 1967. (Bangkok Post file photo)
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According to Sirilaksana Khoman, his daughter-in-law, Thanat passed away on Thursday at 3:49 pm, just two months short of his 102nd birthday.
Thanat earned his doctorate in law in France and was Thailand's foreign minister from 1959-1971.
During the conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia in the 60's, Thanat played a pivotal role as mediator.
As a respect for his active role in the ASEAN formation, Bangkok was chosen as the founding place on August 8, 1967.
That same day, five leaders coming from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, signed the ASEAN Declaration in the main hall of the Department of Foreign Affairs building.
The five ministers — Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso R Ramos of the Philippines, Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S Rajaratnam of Singapore, and Thanat — were hailed as the Founding Fathers of Asean.
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