Guest Speaker:
H.E. Mr Noppadon Theppitak
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotiary for Thailand in New Zealand
Event Date: Wednesday 16th July 2014
Event Time: 5:30 pm-7:00 pm
Event Location:
Russell McVeagh
Level 24, Vodafone on the Quay, 157 Lambton Quay, Wellington, 6011.
Please note no building access after 6pm.
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As you will already be aware, in the past 6-7 years ,Thailand has gone through significant internal turmoil and there have been concerns that Thailand’s politics have drastically hamstrung the country’s economic progress and global engagement.
The anti-government protest movement in Bangkok has developed in a way where the colours of the Thai national flag have been displayed and adopted as a symbol of dissent. They highlight opposition to Thaksinism with its features of corruption, nepotism, cronyism, vote-buying, anti-royalist tendencies and other abuses of power by the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and other pro-Thaksin parties since 2001. The anti-government protestors have advocated the suspension of the democratic process for a more enduring and inclusive brand of civic nationalism, in which national identity is centred on a collective subscription to a set of civil and constitutional rights.
The above are a few of the highlights as background for Asia Forum to hear from H.E. Mr Noppadon Theppitak, the Thai Ambassador, and how the situation affects trade and economic progress.
About the Ambassador:
Mr Noppadon Theppitak has served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotiary for Thailand in New Zealand since 2010.
Prior to his New Zealand posting, he served as Thailand’s Ambassador to Egypt.
The Ambassador has held a number of other senior posts within Thailand’s foreign service. These include Director-General, Department of South Asian Middle East and African Affairs in 2004; Deputy Director-General Department of East Asian Affairs in 2003; Minister-Counsellor in Singapore in 1999; Counsellor, Middle East Division, for the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs in 1994; and Head of East Asian Division 11, for the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs.
Mr Theppitak began his career as Third Secretary, for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Division, Department of International Organisations in 1983. This was followed by postings as Second Secretary, then First Secretary of Thailand’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York in 1987 and 1989.
Mr Theppitak was educated in Thailand and the United States and holds graduate and post-graduate degrees specialising in International Relations. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree with First Class Honours, and Gold Medal from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand; and a Master of Science degree from Northern Illinois University.
