Konthi Suphamongkhon

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Konthi Suphamongkhon ( Thai : ก น ต์ ธี ร์ ศุภมงคล , born August 3, 1914 or 1916 in Bangkok ; † December 27, 2011 ) was a Thai diplomat . In the course of his career he was Thai Ambassador to Australia, the Federal Republic of Germany and Great Britain and from 1964 to 1965 Secretary General of SEATO .

biography

There are contradicting statements about the year of Konthi Suphamongkhon's birth: he himself stated that he was born in 1914, but official documents record 1916. He first studied law at Chulalongkorn University before moving to the newly founded Thammasat University , where he graduated in Thammasat - "moral science". In 1937 he received a grant from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which allowed him to continue his studies in France. There he also did his doctorate. In June 1940 he began his return journey to Thailand, which, due to the turmoil of the Second World War, led through Africa and America and lasted nine months. He then worked as a diplomat in the Thai Foreign Ministry.

He joined the Seri Thai movement ("Free Thailand"), a secret organization that resisted Thai collaboration with Japan during World War II and instead worked with the Allies. As an employee of the Thai ambassador to Japan, Direk Jayanama , who was also on the side of the Seri Thai, he was stationed in Tokyo from 1942 to 1944. After returning to Thailand, he worked in the Western Department of the Foreign Ministry. The Seri Thai selected Konthi as their chief negotiator with the US. According to a legend, he traveled to the island of Ko Kradat in the Gulf of Thailand in January 1945, where - unnoticed by the Japanese occupation forces - he was picked up by an amphibious aircraft of the Royal Air Force and brought to India. Under the name "Suni Thepraksa" - called "Sunny" by the Americans - he traveled on to the United States, where he campaigned for the USA and Great Britain to recognize a Thai government in exile. Later on, Konthi acted as a middleman between Seri Thai leader Pridi Phanomyong and OSS officer Richard Greenlee, who led the Siren mission .

In the early 1950s, Konthi was head of the Western Department in the Thai Foreign Ministry. In this capacity, he wrote a memorandum for Foreign Minister Pote Sarasin in February 1950 , which spoke out against the recognition of the US-backed " State of Vietnam " under Emperor Bảo Đại , because it lacked popular support and was officially recognized could negatively impact Thai-Vietnamese relations. Konthi's argument found the support of the other department heads in the ministry and the foreign minister. However, the Thai Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram disregarded this recommendation and nevertheless recognized Bảo Đại's regime. He was then accredited as ambassador to Australia and New Zealand between 1956 and 1959 .

After being used again in the Foreign Ministry, he became Secretary General of SEATO on February 19, 1964 and held this office until July 1, 1965.

Subsequently, Prof. Dr. Konthi Suphamongkhon was appointed ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and remained in this post until 1970. At the same time, he was accredited as ambassador to Finland between 1967 and 1970 . He was most recently Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1970 until his retirement in 1976 .

His son Kantathi Suphamongkhon also became a diplomat and was Foreign Minister between 2005 and 2006 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Noranit Setthabut: Konthi Suphamongkhon: Seri Thai Phu Rai Puen . King Prajadhipok's Institute.
  2. ↑ Local News  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Student Weekly, January 9, 2012, accessed September 2, 2012@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.student-weekly.com  
  3. ^ E. Bruce Reynolds: Thailand's Secret War. OSS, SOE and the Free Thai Underground During World War II. Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-521-83601-8 , p. 276.
  4. ↑ Reynolds: Thailand's Secret War. 2005, p. 324.
  5. ↑ Reynolds: Thailand's Secret War. 2005, p. 333.
  6. ^ Daniel Fineman: A special relationship: the United States and military government in Thailand, 1947-1958 , ISBN 0824818180, (1997)
  7. ↑ Entries in the Golden Book of the City of Bremen from 1926 to 2014 ( Memento from August 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ SUNDAY BRUNCH: Born to be a diplomat. Kantathi Suphamongkhon draws from a wealth of international experience as Thailand's foreign minister (September 11, 2005) ( Memento of March 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.
predecessor Office successor
William Worth Secretary General of SEATO
1964–1965 		Jesus Vargas
personal data
SURNAME Konthi Suphamongkhon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION thai diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1916
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 2011