With engineers and roadway repair crews, Thai blue helmets help keep South Sudan moving

Since 2018, the Royal Thai Armed Forces has deployed troops serving arsenic the Horizontal Military Engineering Company (HMEC) to enactment UNMISS.

Nearly 270 Thai peacekeepers are moving chiefly successful 2 South Sudanese cities, the, capital, Juba, and Rumbek the second being astir 400 km to the northbound wherever they assistance to support proviso routes, including engineering tasks, with the UNMISS Engineering Section.

For instance, successful 2019, Thai engineers serving with UNMISS repaired a conception on the often travelled Juba-Yei road. Most of the main proviso routes successful South Sudan are successful changeless request of repair, and convoys to antithetic parts of the state often endure delays oregon harm – making transportation, entree and transportation of humanitarian assistance a herculean task.

In an interview, Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee, the existent Contingent Commander of Thai HMEC, said that portion helium was precise arrogant of his unit’s enactment connected roadway attraction and repair, helium was arsenic arrogant of HMEC’s cultivation objection plots astatine the Yei Checkpoint Juba, portion of an effort to thatch residents of the 3 surrounding communities however to turn nutrient and go much self-sufficient.

UNMISS

Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee is the existent Commander of the Thai Horizontal Military Engineering Company (HMEC), Horizontal Military Engineering Company (HMEC), which works with UNMISS repair and rehabilitate South Sudan’s existing infrastructure. Thai engineers person made an invaluable publication to the mission’s mandate.

He said it was precise rewarding to enactment section communities, to assistance amended their situations and walk connected a small spot of his culture.

“My portion has a lukewarm narration with locals [in South Sudan], owed to the warmth of the Thai people. When we conscionable someone, we greet them with smiles and rise our hands, which is emblematic successful Thai culture. This has helped the section radical invited us,” the Lt. Col. said.

Q: Why did you determine to articulation your country’s equipped forces?

A: Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee: I americium the Contingent Commander of Thai HMEC rotation 2. The crushed that I decided to articulation the Royal Thai Armed Forces is that by joining [these Forces] I tin repay my federation … support the Monarchy and enactment people, pursuing the Armed Forces motto: ‘for the Nation, Religion, Monarchy and People.’

Q: How did you travel to beryllium a UN peacekeeper? Is this your archetypal mission?

A: Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee: UNMISS is my archetypal UN peacekeeping operation. The Royal Thai Armed Forces established the Thai Horizontal Military Engineering Company to enactment UN Peacekeeping operations. At that time, the Royal Thai Armed Forces called for and recruited unit to execute assorted duties with UN peacekeeping operations. I was funny and volunteered. I wanted to summation acquisition and unfastened my caput adjacent more. My commanders considered my inheritance and abilities, and they chose maine to beryllium the contingent commander.

UNMISS

Thai engineers person made an invaluable publication to the mandate of the UN Mission successful South Sudan by expanding entree for section communities to healthcare, boosting commercialized and enabling radical from distant locations to forge connections with each different arsenic the world’s youngest federation works towards consolidating a durable peace.

Q: What are immoderate of the challenges your contingent has faced. What has been the interaction of COVID-19 connected your enactment and the satellite of your troops? How person you been adjusting?

A: Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee: My portion has faced challenges specified arsenic differences successful topography, climate, nationality, religion, connection and culture. My portion operates attraction connected the main proviso route, which is acold distant from the Thai HMEC base. Some of the areas of cognition are inactive successful struggle areas, and determination is the anticipation that immoderate of my troops tin beryllium harmed. I’m ever acrophobic with the information of my personnel.

Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted my unit’s work, particularly successful coordinating with different organizations. Still, my troops and I person been capable to set to the situation. I person told my troops to comply with the Thai Army’s unit extortion measures, arsenic good arsenic the guidelines for COVID-19 prevention, which UNMISS has enactment successful place. I’ve allowed my troops to enactment successful immoderate activities that tin assistance them relax, specified arsenic spiritual activities, increasing plants and playing euphony and sports.

Q: Have you provided immoderate enactment to the colonisation oregon authorities with respect to the effect to COVID-19 crisis?

A: Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee: In enactment of the COVID-19 response, my portion donated aesculapian instrumentality specified arsenic surgical masks and manus sanitizer to Samson Nursery School, Exodus Academy, Lanya Health Care Center and different organizations, to assistance rise their consciousness astir prevention.

UNMISS/Gregório Cunha

UNMISS has a basal not acold from Exodus Academy, a tiny schoolhouse successful Juba, South Sudan. In past years, peacekeepers person gone beyond their mandate to enactment the school. Most recently, the mission's engineers from Thailand person helped to physique a caller classroom.

Q: What has been the astir rewarding clip astatine UNMISS for you personally?

A: Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee: Most rewarding for maine astatine this ngo person been the times that my portion has had the accidental to enactment section communities by donating aesculapian equipment.  Another rewarding clip was erstwhile my Unit was capable to item King Rama IX’s [Bhumibol Adulyadej, the Thai Monarch who passed distant successful 2016] ‘sufficiency system philosophy’ and disseminate it to UNMISS and the South Sudanese people. I privation radical to beryllium self-reliant. We are precise arrogant of the Agriculture Demonstration Plots Project that we carried retired with the Yei Police Station. It’s besides rewarding erstwhile my troops implicit their assigned missions safely.

Q: What are your responsibilities astatine UNMISS? What is your emblematic time like?

A: Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee: I americium successful complaint of the bid and power of my unit, and I guarantee the bully behaviour of my troops according to our mandate and modular operating procedures (SOP).

Q: Do you person a connection for immoderate of your compatriots who mightiness privation to articulation UN Peacekeeping?

A: Lt. Col. Kaisin Sasunee: The connection that I’d similar to walk connected to my compatriots is that we indispensable enactment with planetary organizations. Therefore, you should hole mentally and physically truthful you tin beryllium acceptable to look immoderate situation. When you articulation a mission, the important happening to support successful caput is however you tin assistance enactment the big state and section people.

I would suggest that my compatriot’s look to King Rama IX’s advice: ‘Understand’ the contented and civilization of the big country, arsenic good arsenic your relation successful the mission; ‘Reach out’ truthful that you tin person bully relations with others; and ‘Develop’ your cognition truthful that you tin accommodate to your ngo effectively.