Sir Simon McDonald, Head of the UK’s Foreign Office, meets Prime Minister Prayuth
Sir Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) at the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Head of the Diplomatic Service, is visiting Thailand from 2-3 February.
On his first visit to Thailand as PUS, Sir Simon met Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha at Government House. They discussed the strength of bilateral relations between the UK and Thailand, focusing on the many areas of collaboration including increasing trade & investment, tackling international crime, developing science and technology links, and tourism. Sir Simon stressed the importance of an inclusive political reform process and offered the UK’s support in helping Thailand return to democracy.
Sir Simon will also meet Vice Foreign Minister Virasakdi Futrakul at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss bilateral cooperation and exchange views on UK and Thai foreign policy priorities.
While in Thailand Sir Simon will visit the British Embassy’s Consular Section, one of our busiest in the world. He will support the UK’s campaigns on health insurance and road safety, targeted at British visitors to Thailand. He will also take the opportunity to meet representatives of civil society organisations, academics, and UK business leaders in Thailand.
Sir Simon’s visit comes after his trip to Brunei and he will travel to Laos after leaving Thailand.
Further information
Follow the Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) on Twitter @SMcDonaldFCO
Follow the British Ambassador to Thailand on Twitter @KentBKK
Follow the British Embassy Bangkok on Facebook and Twitter @ukinthailand