New ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan is shown in ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 7, 2008. Surin Pitsuwan, former minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, assumed the five-year-term post of ASEAN Secretary-General during a ceremony on Monday, succeeding Ong Keng Yong, whose term ended on December 31, 2007. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    JAKARTA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's former foreign minister Dr. Surin Pitsuwa assumed the post of Secretary-General of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) here Monday, succeeding Ong Keng Yong, whose term ended on Dec. 31, 2007.

    Surin Pitsuwan's five-year tenure will be from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2012. His appointment was formally endorsed by the ASEAN leaders at the 13th ASEAN summit in Singapore in November 2007.

    Dr Surin received his M.A. and Ph.D in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University.

    Upon his return from the United States, he spent almost ten years teaching at the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasart University, Bangkok, Thailand. In 1986, Dr Surin ran for a Parliamentary seat in his hometown, Nakorn Sri Thammarat. He has been returned to Parliament eight times since 1986.

    Dr. Surin was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand from 1997-2001. He served as Chair of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum from 1999-2000.

    He was appointed as a member of the Commission on Human Security of the United Nation in mid-2001.

    Dr Surin is married with three children.