Dear Colleagues

It is my great honour and pleasure to become the new AFPA President following the footstep of our beloved Prof. Shinfuku. Although I became the President of the Psychiatric Association of Thailand for 2 consecutive terms and also served as President of the ASEAN Federation for Psychiatry and Mental Health 5 years ago, but leading the big organization like AFPA is very challenging for me. I hope all of you have known of what had happened in AFPA in the past 2 years. I promise to put all of my effort to bring back the unity and collaboration among Asian psychiatrists and Asian national societies. I am confident that with the great help and support from the new Executive Committee of AFPA which include Prof. Shinfuku as the Immediate Past President, we will, of course finally reach to that goal.
May I propose our strategy for the next 2 years during my termship as the President by using the abbreviation name, similar like AFPA but with different words and meanings :

A is for Asian focus
F is for Forward looking
P is for Psychiatrists and Patients
A is for Action-oriented

So, within the next 2 years, we will look forward to the better mental health of people in Asia by implementing academic activities for Asian psychiatrists through their national societies which appropriate for their context, encouraging of sharing experiences for the better care of our patients and of course promoting collaboration among national societies in Asia. Results from these activities will be exchanged and presented at the next World Congress of Asian Psychiatry in Fukuoka in 2015. We need your help and your continuous support to bring back the unity and collaboration among Asian psychiatrists and our executive committee look forward to receiving your advice and suggestions for guiding us to reach that ultimate goal.
Once again, thank you for your great and continuous support.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Pichet Udomratn
AFPA President (2013-2015)