The country has already ratified the UNFCCC and become party to the Kyoto Protocol, while our greenhouse gas emissions rate is still considered at a moderate level.

Over the past few years, the country was also selected as a venue for many important climate change meetings. Moreover, Thai scientists have had an outstanding role in the much-respected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-the UN scientific body tasked with providing relevant information to decision-makers worldwide.

Considering our fine profile on the issue of climate change and a certain level of economic and political stability, Bangkok has every right to speak up and even take the lead role in the climate talks.

But that has never happened and it remains doubtful if it would ever happen in future meetings.

It's true that the world's economic powerhouses such as China, Japan, the United States, and the European Commission normally have a louder voice in international negotiations than other countries, but such a trend has gradually changed, especially at the climate change talks, where developing countries have emerged as the key players in recent years.

Bill Hare, a climate policy director of Greenpeace and a long-time observer of climate change negotiations, pointed out that countries that had kept quiet for a long time at climate talks such as Bangladesh and the small island nations, spoke up loudly at the Bangkok talks.

Thai delegation members at the climate negotiations, led by Natural Resources and Environment Ministry officials and members of the trade, industry and foreign affairs agencies, are certainly not to blame for the country's unimpressive performance at international platforms.

These people, most of whom are experts on climate and trade, have been working very hard to catch up with the highly-complicated topic of climate change and sensitive political and economic issues surrounding the negotiations.

The problem is they lack a clear policy from the government and support from relevant agencies.

Each agency has to also shoulder a heavy workload and is given only a rare opportunity to get-together for a brainstorming session before or between such meetings.

As delegates from over 160 countries gathered in Bangkok in the past week to work on the new climate change pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the timing was seen as good for Thailand to overhaul its negotiating strategy and protect its interests for public benefit.

Thailand should come up with a more pro-active stance to lay the goundwork for a new climate agreement, which is set to be sealed in Copenhagen in 2009, benefitting the country and the world as a whole.