US appoints a New Thailand Ambassador after Six Month Vacancy

[Jacob Maslow]

United States President Barak Obama has appointed a new Thailand ambassador following a six-month vacancy of the position. Glyn Davies, former American envoy for North Korea policy, has been nominated for the position. Davies’s appointment still needs approval from the Senate.

The new appointment comes amidst strained ties between the U.S. and Thailand, America’s oldest ally in Asia. The U.S. suspended military aid after the coup last May. The relationship appeared to be deteriorating further after Daniel Russel of East Asian and Pacific Affairs criticized the ruling junta in a speech given at a university in Bangkok. Naturally, Russel’s speech angered officials, including Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha.

Despite all of this, Thailand has been keen to restore its ties with the United States. Pisan Manapawat, Thailand’s new ambassador to Washington, stated publicly that the country’s two most urgent tasks were to mend

Bangkok’s relations with Washington and upgrade its position in the State Department’s Trafficking Persons Report.

Glyn Davies is a senior advisor of the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau. He once served as a US envoy to Vienna’s International Atomic Energy Agency (2009-2012) and a representative for North Korea policy (2012-2014).

Davies would replace Kristie Kenny. Kenny left her appointment in November, but during her tenure, she had developed a sort of “celebrity” status with the public. Kenny would regularly interact with Thais and was very active on Twitter.

-- 2015-04-14

[Costas2008]

It seems to me, that the USA, at last, have noted the meetings between Prayut and the Russian PM and also the negotiations with the Chinese and decided to change their tune.

About time too.

It took them a little time to understand and act, but at the end they have chosen the right way of conducting politics with Thailand.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Costas2008

[robblok]

It seems to me, that the USA, at last, have noted the meetings between Prayut and the Russian PM and also the negotiations with the Chinese and decided to change their tune.

About time too.

It took them a little time to understand and act, but at the end they have chosen the right way of conducting politics with Thailand.

Seems the Thai tactic of going to China and Russia has worked and now the USA comes back groveling.. fearing loss of income.

Or it was planned.. however.. it does raise questions..

Edited April 15, 2015 by robblok

[Chupup]

Truth is "Nobody wanted to come here " is this an Inactive post ?? " its a good job for some body " Some body else "

Edited April 15, 2015 by Chupup

[Pib]

But until Mr Davies' nomination is confirmed, which could be quite a while based on the bad relations between the Republican controlled Senate and the Democrat President Obama, Mr Davies is just another civil servant hoping for a promotion. Heck, it's been 5 months since Kenny left and they have now only "nominated" a replacement. Yeap, could be a while. But since Davies has real experience and is not someone being nominated because of large donations to a political party, the Senate should confirm him within a few months.

[Rhys]

Who runs the U. S. Embassy? Now that is a good answers....

[rijb]

It seems to me, that the USA, at last, have noted the meetings between Prayut and the Russian PM and also the negotiations with the Chinese and decided to change their tune.

About time too.

It took them a little time to understand and act, but at the end they have chosen the right way of conducting politics with Thailand.

Seems the Thai tactic of going to China and Russia has worked and now the USA comes back groveling.. fearing loss of income.

Or it was planned.. however.. it does raise questions..

Reading these two ignorant posts, together, just sucks the air out of the room.

[winstonc]

another vegetable on a freeby..

[djjamie]

Glyn Davies, a War College graduate is perfect for running armed subversion like US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford did in the opening phases of the Syrian conflict.

The polar opposite of Kenny. I bet we don't see him twittering pics of himself in a floral shirt sipping cocktails over Songkran.

After 40 years of America trying to align Thailand as a front against China (along with Vietnam, South Korea etc) only for it to be slowly dissolving must really frustrate the USA and Glyn could really shake the "US-Thai" relationship up even further.

[tonbridgebrit]

It seems to me, that the USA, at last, have noted the meetings between Prayut and the Russian PM and also the negotiations with the Chinese and decided to change their tune.

About time too.

It took them a little time to understand and act, but at the end they have chosen the right way of conducting politics with Thailand.

Seems the Thai tactic of going to China and Russia has worked and now the USA comes back groveling.. fearing loss of income.

Or it was planned.. however.. it does raise questions..

Reading these two ignorant posts, together, just sucks the air out of the room.

LOL. Yes, rijb, I know the feeling, I know how you feel !

There's people out there who reckon that this appointment is about the USA coming back groveling.

Still, most people live in the real world. There's that other thread on ThaiVisa about how the American who has been appointed for this job is an expert in dealing with North Korea. This is actually about the USA snubbing Thailand, most people know that. Whether snubbing Thailand is good or not is a different matter.