Tharit Charungvat
| Ambassador Tharit Charungvat | |
|---|---|
|
Thai Ambassador Tharit Charungvat, South Africa, 2010 | |
| Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of Turkey | |
|
Assumed office October 2013 | |
| Ambassador of Thailand to the Federative Republic of Brazil | |
|
In office 2012–2013 | |
| Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of South Africa | |
|
In office 2009–2012 | |
| Director-General, Department of Information, MFA-Thailand. | |
|
In office 2007–2009 | |
| Director-General, Department of South Asia, Middle East and African Affairs, MFA-Thailand. | |
|
In office 2006–2007 | |
| Ambassador Attached to the Ministry, MFA-Thailand. | |
|
In office 2004–2006 | |
| Consul-General, Royal Thai Consulate-General, Hong Kong. | |
|
In office 2003–2004 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thailand |
| Nationality | Thai |
| Spouse(s) | Vithu Charungvat, one child |
| Alma mater | The American University, Chulalongkorn University |
Tharit Charungvat is a career diplomat with more than 30-years experience in the Thai Foreign Service. He currently serves as the Ambassador of Thailand to Turkey.
Career
Ambassador Tharit Charungvat first joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in 1980 as an Attaché in the ASEAN Department. After serving as Third and Second Secretary in the Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry, he was posted to the Thai Embassy in Brussels, Belgium from 1990 – 1994 as Second and then First Secretary responsible for Thai-European Community relations. He then returned to Thailand to serve as Counselor in the Department of Information before moving on in 1997 to begin 8 years of close association with China as the Director of Division III of the Department of East Asian Affairs, which oversees Chinese affairs. This was followed by postings in 1999 to the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kunming, PRC as the Deputy Consul-General, and then to Hong Kong in 2003 as the Consul-General.
He returned to Thailand in 2004 to take up the post of Ambassador-at-Large at the Foreign Ministry, and over the next two years helped to lay a new ground work for the Ministry’s entry into the digital age of information management and connectivity. In 2006, he moved on to serve as the Director-General of the Department of South Asia, Middle East and African Affairs, overseeing Thailand’s bilateral and multilateral relations with more than eighty countries from the African continent though the Middle East to the Indian sub-continent. In 2007 he was appointed as Director-General of the Department of Information and the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry during a sensitive period in Thai-Cambodian relations.[1]
He would hold this post for two and half years until mid-2009 when he returned to familiar territory by being appointed Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of South Africa and accredited to ten additional countries in the Southern African region, namely Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland Zaire and Zimbabwe. During his time in South Africa, he worked to promote and expand trade, tourism and people to people ties between Thailand and southern Africa.[2] Ambassador Charungvat then moved on at the beginning of 2012 to become Ambassador of Thailand to the Federative Republic of Brazil. Over one and a half years in Brazil, he worked to further enhance trade, business and investment ties between Thailand and Brazil.[3][4] In late-2013 he was appointed to his next posting as Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of Turkey.
Chronology
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1980 | Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand (MFA) as an Attaché in the ASEAN Department |
| 1984 | Third Secretary, Office of the Permanent Secretary, MFA-Thailand |
| 1986 | Third Secretary, Policy and Planning Division, Office of the Permanent Secretary, MFA-Thailand |
| 1990 | Second Secretary, Royal Thai Embassy, Brussels |
| 1995 | Counselor, Public and Cultural Affairs Division, Department of Information, MFA-Thailand |
| 1996 | Secretariat to Department, Department of East Asian Affairs, MFA-Thailand |
| 1997 | Director, Division III, Department of East Asian Affairs, MFA-Thailand |
| 1999 | Deputy Consul-General, Royal Thai Consulate-General, Kunming, PRC |
| 2003 | Consul-General, Royal Thai Consulate-General, Hong Kong |
| 2004 | Ambassador Attached to the Ministry, Office of the Permanent Secretary, MFA-Thailand |
| 2006 | Director-General, Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs, MFA-Thailand |
| 2007 | Director-General, Department of Information, MFA-Thailand |
| 2009 | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Thailand to the Republic of South Africa |
| 2012 | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Thailand to the Federative Republic of Brazil |
| 2013 | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Thailand to the Republic of Turkey |
Education and personal life
Ambassador Charungvat earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs – Asian Study and International Economic Development from The American University in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. He also completed Thailand’s National Defence College curriculum in 2004.
Ambassador Charungvat is married to Mrs. Vithu Charungvat with one child.
Decorations received
| Year | Decoration |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Order of Rio Branco, Class Grand Cross (Ordem de Rio Branco, Grã Cruz) (Brazil) |
| 2009 | Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (มหาวชิรมงกูฎ) |
| 2006 | Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (ประถมาภรณ์ช้างเผือก) |
| 2005 | The Chakra Mala Medal (เหรียญจักรพรรดิมาลา) |
| 2003 | Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (ประถมาภรณ์มงกุฏไทย) |
| 1999 | Knight Commander (Second Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (ทวิติยาภรณ์ช้างเผือก) |
| 1994 | Knight Commander (Second Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (ทวิติยาภรณ์มงกุฏไทย) |
| 1992 | Commander (Third Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (ตริตาภรณ์ช้างเผือก) |
| 1988 | Commander (Third Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (ตริตาภรณ์มงกุฏไทย) |
| 1985 | Companion (Fourth Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (จัตุรถาภรณ์ช้างเผือก) |
See also
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
- Foreign relations of Thailand
- List of diplomatic missions of Thailand
References
- ↑ "Thailand ready to deal with Thai-Cambodian border dispute". Xinhua. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- ↑ "Ambassador of Thailand gives donation to support the work of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory". Nelson Mandela Foundation. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- ↑ "H.E. Mr. Tharit attended gave an interview to Jornal da Comercio in Rio de Janeiro". Royal Thai Embassy, Brasilia. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- ↑ "Words of farewell to Ambassador Tharit Charungvat by Under-Secretary General Ambassador Maria Edileuza". Royal Thai Embassy, Brasilia. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ↑ "Países contam como os acordos comerciais beneficiaram economia". AmCham Brasil. Retrieved 5 December 2013.