US ambassador expected to be in place before Thailand has elected government
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A new US Ambassador to Thailand is expected to be in place in Thailand even before the country has an elected government, Deputy Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on Thursday.
The US is still in the process of appointing the new envoy to replace Kristy Kenney, Don said, dismissing speculation that it had delayed the dispatch because it is not happy with the political situation in Thailand.
"It is not unusual that there is a void period before a new envoy arrives to take office. Indeed Thailand has still not dispatched its new ambassadors to a number of countries as the processing is not yet complete," he added.
Don also referred to a report that the new Thai Ambassador to the US, Pisarn Manawapt, had already paid a courtesy call on US President Barrack Obama, although he had yet to receive a report on the meeting.
“It is normal for a Thai ambassador to meet the leader of the country and talk about relations and cooperation,” Don said.
“Many foreign countries appear to have a better understanding about Thailand. I’m not worried because relations and trade cooperation are still intact,” he said.
“However, we must tackle and the problems of human trafficking, which is not acceptable to any countries, he said.
