List of ambassadors of the United States to Thailand

This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Thailand.

Ambassador of the United States of America to Thailand
เอกอัครราชทูตสหรัฐอเมริกาประจำประเทศไทย
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Robert F. Godec since October 7, 2022
Nominator	The President of the United States
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holder	John A. Halderman as Minister Resident/Consul General
Formation	July 13, 1882
Website	U.S. Embassy - Bangkok

Thailand has had continuous bilateral relations with the United States since 1882. Relations were interrupted during World War II when Bangkok was occupied by Japanese forces. Normal relations were resumed after the war in 1945.

The United States Embassy to Thailand, which was designed by Gerhard Kallmann of Kallmann McKinnell & Wood,^[1] is located in Bangkok.

Ambassadors

Name	Portrait	Career status	Title	Appointed	Presentation of credentials	Termination of mission	Comment
John A. Halderman[2]			Minister Resident/Consul General	July 13, 1882	October 23, 1882	Left post April 1, 1885
Jacob T. Child			Minister Resident/Consul General	March 9, 1886	June 5, 1886	Presented recall, January 17, 1891	Note: President Harrison nominated Alexander C. Moore for the ministerial post on July 9, 1890, but Moore declined the appointment.
Sempronius H. Boyd			Minister Resident/Consul General	October 1, 1890	January 17, 1891	Relinquished charge, June 13, 1892
John Barrett			Minister Resident/Consul General	February 14, 1894	November 15, 1894	Presented recall, April 26, 1898
Hamilton King[a]			Minister Resident/Consul General	January 14, 1898	April 26, 1898	April 27, 1903
Hamilton King[a][b]			Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	April 27, 1903	July 3, 1903	Died at post September 2, 1912
Fred W. Carpenter[c]		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	September 12, 1912	January 22, 1913	Left post November 16, 1913	President Wilson nominated Alexander Sweek of Oregon for the post in 1913 but Sweek’s nomination was not confirmed by the United States Senate.
William H. Hornibrook		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	February 12, 1915	May 31, 1915	Presented recall, October 24, 1916
George Pratt Ingersoll		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	August 8, 1917	November 24, 1917	Left post June 23, 1918
George W. P. Hunt		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	May 18, 1920	September 6, 1920	Left post October 1, 1921
Edward E. Brodie		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	October 8, 1921	January 31, 1922	Left post May 2, 1925
William W. Russell[d]		Career FSO	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	September 28, 1925	January 9, 1926[e]	Left post January 7, 1927
Harold Orville MacKenzie		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	March 3, 1927	June 28, 1927	Left post March 29, 1930
Arthur H. Geissler[f]		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	December 16, 1929	—	—
David E. Kaufman		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	June 12, 1930	December 9, 1930	Left post June 15, 1933
James Marion Baker[g]		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	August 30, 1933	December 9, 1933	Left post May 2, 1936
Edwin L. Neville		Career FSO	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	May 28, 1937	October 2, 1937	Left post May 1, 1940	Note: Siam changed its name to Thailand in 1939, but ambassadors were commissioned to Siam until 1954.
Hugh Gladney Grant		Political appointee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	April 3, 1940	August 20, 1940	Left post August 30, 1941
Willys R. Peck		Career FSO	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	August 19, 1941	September 16, 1941	Japanese forces occupied Bangkok, December 8, 1941	Note: Thailand declared war on the United States January 25, 1942. Ambassador Peck was initially interned and then freed. He departed Thailand on June 29, 1942. Note: Normal relations between Thailand and the United States were resumed after the war in October 1945.
Charles W. Yost		Career FSO	Chargé d’Affaires	Not commissioned	A letter of credence was sent to Yost by telegram, October 16, 1945.	Superseded by commissioned envoy July 4, 1946
Edwin F. Stanton		Career FSO	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	April 27, 1946	July 4, 1946	Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary April 10, 1947.	Note: The legation in Bangkok was raised to embassy status March 18, 1947. At the same time the envoy was promoted to ambassador.
Edwin F. Stanton[h]		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	April 10, 1947	May 9, 1947	Left post June 30, 1953	Note: Hereafter ambassadors were commissioned to Thailand rather than Siam, as previous envoys had been.
William J. Donovan		Political appointee	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 3, 1953	September 4, 1953	Left post August 21, 1954
John E. Peurifoy[i]		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	September 15, 1954	December 3, 1954	Died near Hua Hin, August 12, 1955
Max Waldo Bishop[3][j]		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	December 3, 1955	January 9, 1956	Left post January 6, 1958
U. Alexis Johnson		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	January 30, 1958	February 14, 1958	Left post April 10, 1961
Kenneth Todd Young		Political appointee	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	March 29, 1961	June 22, 1961	Left post August 19, 1963
Graham A. Martin		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	September 10, 1963	November 7, 1963	Left post September 9, 1967
Leonard S. Unger		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 11, 1967	October 4, 1967	Left post November 19, 1973
William R. Kintner		Political appointee	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	September 28, 1973	November 29, 1973	Left post March 15, 1975
Charles S. Whitehouse		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	May 8, 1975	May 30, 1975	Left post June 19, 1978
Morton I. Abramowitz		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	June 27, 1978	August 9, 1978	Left post July 31, 1981
John Gunther Dean		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	October 1, 1981	October 26, 1981	Left post June 6, 1985
William Andreas Brown		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	June 6, 1985	July 5, 1985	Left post August 5, 1988
Daniel Anthony O'Donohue		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	July 11, 1988	August 13, 1988	Left post August 10, 1991
David Floyd Lambertson		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	July 22, 1991	September 24, 1991	Left post August 25, 1995
William H. Itoh		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	December 19, 1995	February 20, 1996	Left post February 1, 1999
Richard E. Hecklinger		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	December 1, 1998	March 9, 1999	Left post December 21, 2001
Darryl N. Johnson		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	November 26, 2001	March 29, 2002	Left post December 28, 2004
Ralph Leo Boyce[4]		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	July 2, 2004	March 9, 2005	Left post July 21, 2007
Eric G. John[5]		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 3, 2007	January 8, 2008	Left post September 30, 2010
Kristie A. Kenney[6]		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	December 9, 2010	January 8, 2011	Left post November 6, 2014
W. Patrick Murphy[7]		Career FSO	Chargé d’affaires a.i.	November 6, 2014	N/A	September 22, 2015
Glyn T. Davies[8]		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 6, 2015	September 22, 2015	Left post September 29, 2018
Michael G. DeSombre		Political appointee	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	January 8, 2020	March 2, 2020	January 20, 2021
Michael G. Heath[9]		Career FSO	Chargé d’affaires	January 20, 2021	N/A	October 7, 2022
Robert F. Godec		Career FSO	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 4, 2022[10]	October 7, 2022[11]	Incumbent

See also

• Thailand – United States relations
• Foreign relations of Thailand
• Ambassadors of the United States
• Embassy of the United States, Bangkok

Notes

1. Minister King was promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary during his term, which required a new commission.
2. King was commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on November 16, 1903.
3. Carpenter was commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on March 1, 1913.
4. Russell was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on December 17, 1925.
5. Russell was officially received on January 9, 1926.
6. Geissler took the oath of office, but did not proceed to post.
7. Baker was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on January 15, 1934.
8. Stanton was promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary April 10, 1947. That required a new commission.
9. Peurifoy was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on December 3, 1954.
10. Bishop was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on January 18, 1956.

References

1. Hevesi, Dennis (June 24, 2012). "Gerhard Kallmann, Architect, Is Dead at 97". New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
2. Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. Standard Publishing Company. pp. 801.
3. "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR MAX WALDO BISHOP" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. February 26, 1993. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
4. "Ambassador Ralph L. "Skip" Boyce - U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand". October 28, 2007. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
5. "Ambassador Eric G. John - U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand". August 14, 2010. Archived from the original on August 14, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
6. "Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney | Embassy of the United States Bangkok, Thailand". December 6, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
7. "Chargé d'affaires, a.i. W. Patrick Murphy | Embassy of the United States Bangkok, Thailand". December 4, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
8. "Ambassador Glyn T. Davies | Bangkok, Thailand - Embassy of the United States". March 22, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
9. "Chargé d'affaires Michael Heath - U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Thailand". November 7, 2021. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
10. "PN1937 - Nomination of Robert F. Godec for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
11. Royal Office (October 8, 2022). "พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว และสมเด็จพระนางเจ้า ฯ พระบรมราชินี พระราชทานพระบรมราชวโรกาสให้ เอกอัครราชทูตต่างประเทศประจำประเทศไทย เฝ้าทูลละอองธุลีพระบาท ถวายพระราชสาส์นตราตั้ง และอักษรสาส์นตราตั้ง". หน่วยราชการในพระองค์ (in Thai). Retrieved October 8, 2022.

Sources

• United States Department of State: Background notes on Thailand
•  This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.

External links

• United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for Thailand
• United States Department of State: Thailand
• United States Embassy in Bangkok