Praya Lundberg Commemorates World Refugee Day with a Special Talk and Photo Exhibition

Bangkok - 20 June 2018

Praya Lundberg Commemorates World Refugee Day with a Special Talk and Photo Exhibition

War, conflict, and persecution drove worldwide forced displacement to a new high in 2017 for the fifth year in a row, leaving 68.5 million people in limbo—as many as the entire population of Thailand—and requiring more innovative and comprehensive approaches to address the situation, which is too large for any single country or community to handle alone.

“The needs far outweigh the available assistance; we must transform our response to refugee situations,” Shinji Kubo, Officer-in-Charge, UNHCR Thailand stated. “Support from every corner of society is more important than ever.”

World Refugee Day, which falls on 20 June every year, is a chance for us to show solidarity with refugees globally. For the 2018 commemoration, Praya “Pu” Lundberg, UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador, organized a special Talk and Photo Exhibition to mobilize global public support to stand with refugees at this critical time.

“It is important to remind ourselves that each of us can do something for refugees,” Praya said. “Our action, either raising awareness, funds or signing a petition, will have a positive impact on those families who are forced to flee their homes.”

At the talk titled, “It Starts with You”, Praya was joined by Dr. Panitan Wattanayagorn, Principal Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister for Security of the Royal Thai Government, and Mr. Kitti Singhapat, Journalist and Executive Producer of 3mitinews, who provided perspectives of the global refugee crisis and thoughts on what can we do for refugees as individuals, organizations or companies.

For the second year running, UNHCR Thailand presented the “Stand with Refugees” award to a Thai citizen in recognition of their unwavering support to refugees. This year, the award was presented to Mr. Kitti Singhapat for his significant support to raise funds for UNHCR’s Nobody Left Outside campaign, which aims to shelter two million people who have been forced to flee their homes.

In addition to the talk, Praya has been collaborating with a renowned photographer, Thanasade “Great” Tantiwarodom, whose photo exhibition opened today. The photos exhibit real stories of refugees living in Thailand and Turkey. 

On World Refugee Day and beyond, UNHCR organizes activities to encourage the Thai public to take action for refugees.

•   20 June-1 July: Visit photo exhibition by Thanasade “Great” Tantiwarodom about refugees in Thailand and Turkey in front of Krungsri IMAX, 5^th Floor, Siam Paragon

•  Donate or Sign the #WithRefugees petition at www.unhcr.or.th/withrefugees

•  Visit the #WithRefugees solidarity map to see the global actions for refugees at www.unhcr.org 

•  Let UNHCR know how will you stand #WithRefugees today, email : thabaf2f@unhcr.org