The South African delegation was met on arrival by Ambassador Douglas Gibson. The Ambassador briefed the delegation on the current political situation in Thailand. His input covered the recent history of the political situation in the country. He highlighted that power could shift swiftly between factions. He advocated that South Africa should retain, as far as possible, a neutral stance to the current political impasse. Speaker Sisulu also pointed out that the approach of South Africa was to always firstly pursue and encourage the route of dialogue to resolve a political crisis.