Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan addresses attendees during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 28, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Kazakhstan was elected to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, beating Thailand in a second round of voting to join Sweden, Ethiopia and Bolivia for a two-year term starting Jan. 1, 2017.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly elected Kazakhstan with 138 votes in favor over Thailand. Countries need more than two-thirds of the vote to win a seat. A third round of voting is due to take place for the final available seat with Italy competing against The Netherlands.