After the official outcome is announced, the House of Representatives will meet to elect the new Prime Minister, which can be expected to take place in mid November. The new Prime Minister will then form the new cabinet and have his new cabinet sworn in before His Majesty the King.

According to the Thai Constitution, the present cabinet shall remain in office until the new cabinet is sworn in.

Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai remains Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Culture until the new cabinet is formed and sworn in.

Upon the invitation of the Foreign Minister of Malaysia as Chair of the ASEAN Standing Committee, Dr. Surakiart had a meeting with the ASEAN Foreign Ministers at a Special Session on the evening of 24 July. They discussed and mapped out an ASEAN coordinated strategy to be pursued over the next critical months. They agreed to collectively and individually help seek support for the ASEAN Candidate from the ASEAN Dialogue Partners (such as US, Russia, China, Japan, Canada, Australia, European Commission,) and other countries attending the ASEAN related meetings in Malaysia on 25-28 July. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers issued a Press Release reaffirming their support and endorsement of Dr. Surakiart as the ASEAN Candidate for the post of UNSG.

As a result of the informal straw poll conducted by the UNSC on 24 July, the Royal Thai Government reaffirmed that Dr. Surakiart was still a "serious candidate" and that Thailand with ASEAN would pursue more actively together the campaign for Dr. Surakiart, the only candidate to be endorsed by a regional grouping.

Dr. Surakiart called on the Prime Minister of Malaysia and held bilateral meetings with individual ASEAN Foreign Ministers as well as the Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN Dialogue Partners, including Russia, China, Japan, Australia, Canada.

As ASEAN Candidate for the position of United Nations Secretary-General, Dr. Surakiart visited Malaysia on 20 July where he had a productive discussion with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar who is currently Chair of the ASEAN Standing Committee.

The Malaysian Foreign Minister reiterated ASEAN's strong support for Dr. Surakiart's Candidacy, the only candidate to have the endorsement of a regional grouping. "ASEAN reiterates its continued support," said Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar after a meeting with Dr. Surakiart.

They discussed preparations for the ASEAN Special Session to be held on 24 July in Kuala Lumpur. The Special Session is held for Dr. Surakiart to exchange views on the campaign strategy with the ASEAN Foreign Ministers. Dr. Surakiart, spoke alongside Syed Hamid, and noted that he has been addressing various regional groups on whatever concerns they may have about the U.N. and its future.

Dr. Surakiart visits New York 5-12 July

As the ASEAN Candidate and the only candidate to have the endorsement of a regional grouping, Dr. Surakiart met with Permanent Representatives of all regional groups in the UN as well as the 15 members of the Security Council. They exchanged views on some of his key platform issues, including management reform, development, humanitarian assistance/disaster management, and pandemics. He also focused on the issues of concern and priorities of specific regions as well as cross-regional issues such as development.

Dr. Surakiart had an extensive discussion with the ASEAN Permanent Representatives on the progress of his campaign and the coordinated ASEAN strategy over the next few months. The ASEAN coordinated strategy will be further discussed at the ASEAN Special Session arranged for Dr. Surakiart to meet with the ASEAN Foreign Ministers on 24 July in Kuala Lumpur at the eve of the annual AMM/ASEAN Plus 3/PMC/ARF Ministerial Meetings.

In addition to Permanent Representatives, Dr. Surakiart also met with the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the President of the United nations Association of the United States of America ( UNA-USA), Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, and Dr. Henry Kissinger. He also visited the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) where he had a productive discussion with its CEO John Thain and had the privilege of ringing the opening bell on 11th July.

Upon the invitation of the African Union Commission as well as the Host country, The Gambia, Dr. Surakiart attended the Summit of the African Union. He delivered a speech at the AU’s Special Session of the Executive Council on 30 June. He delivered his speech in both English and French. He recognised the AU’s central role in promoting regional and continent-wide identity, unity and integration, and called for the strengthening of Asia-Africa partnership through the AU and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue or ACD. On peace building, he believed in enhancing partnership between the UN and the AU as well as African subregional organizations in all aspects of peacekeeping. He also suggested that in order to help prevent conflict, closer linkages between the continental early warning system of the AU Commission’s Peace and Security Council and that of the UN could be explored, as well as greater interaction between the AU and the Peacebuilding Commission. On UN reform process, he stressed that “no one can deny the right of Africa to have a greater voice in the UNSC.” On non-traditional security threats, he called for a more systematic global surveillance and monitoring arrangement and response system to address the scourge of pandemics and natural disasters. On development, he stressed that there was “non one size fits all” approach and that homegrown solutions were the best solutions, as well as elaborated on His Majesty the King of Thailand’s practical approach to poverty eradication. He envisaged that Africa would emerge as a key global partner for sustainable development.

Dr. Surakiart held numerous side-line bilateral meetings with Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers of African countries of all the continent’s sub-regions, including the President of the AU. The discussions focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation, exchanging development experiences, regional and global developments, the UN reform process, and the progress of his campaign for the position of UNSG.

As Guest of the host country, Dr. Surakiart called on the President of The Gambia. He signed a bilateral agreement with the Gambian Foreign Minister covering economic, technical, and cultural cooperation. He also exchanged views with the Gambian Vice President and the Minister of Education.