Who will head the UN?
Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand
The first official contender for the post, Thailand's deputy prime minister has the support of all the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN -- comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam).
He was the Thai finance minister (1995 to 1996) and foreign minister (February 2001 to March 2005) before being named deputy prime minister, overseeing foreign affairs, education, and culture.
Born in Bangkok in 1958, his father was a senior bureaucrat, his mother was a professor in French literature. A law graduate from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, he has two master's degrees in law from Harvard and another in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where Dr Tharoor obtained a Ph D.
He returned to Thailand as a lecturer in law at Chulalongkorn University and went on to become dean of the law faculty. The founding partner of a commercial law firm, he was also the chairman of a Thai commercial bank and headed the Thai national petroleum enterprise.
According to his web site, 'Dr Surakiart is fluent in Thai and English, and proficient in French. He is married to Dr Suthawan Sathirathai, who holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Cambridge, a graduate degree in economics from Tufts University, and an engineering degree from Chulalongkorn University.'
'They have one son, Santitarn Sathirathai, born in Boston, a bachelor and master's graduate of the London School of Economics who recently left the Thai ministry of finance to continue his postgraduate studies at the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Dr Surakiart's favorite sports are badminton, bicycling and swimming.'
While he is among the top contenders for the UN chief's job, the Thai government's crackdown on Muslims in southern Thailand and his opposition to the International Criminal Court might not go down well with Muslim nations and some European ones.
And according to Foreign Affairs magazine, 'at only 47 years old, some may believe he's a little too young to lead the world body.'
Photograph: Miyuki Ryoko/AFP/Getty Images
Also See: The Shashi Tharoor Chat