After graduating in Modern History from New College, Oxford, followed by Voluntary Service Overseas in Papua-New Guinea (through which he met his wife, Gwendolyn), David spent 36 years in the Diplomatic Service from 1971 to 2007. He and Gwendolyn served in Thailand in the 1970s, 1990s and from 2003 to 2007 when David was British Ambassador (concurrently to Laos). Other overseas postings included South Africa, Australia and Vietnam (as Ambassador). David speaks rusty Thai, French and Afrikaans. His post-retirement roles have included Chair of the Anglo-Thai Society, Vice-Chair of the British Red Cross, Vice-Chair of the Royal Over-Seas League, and teaching English to migrants. David and Gwendolyn live in Wiltshire. They have three sons and five grandchildren.
Steve is a Career Diplomat who spent much of the latter half of his career promoting British Trade/Investment interests in Asia with postings in Seoul (87-92), KL (96-00), Beijing (00-05), Bangkok (05-10). He subsequently spent 6 years on Secondment to the OCS Group as their London-based Asia Pacific/Adviser. The latter included attendance of quarterly Board Meetings in Bangkok and extensive regional travel. Steve retired from the Diplomatic Service in 2015 and became Chair in October 2017. He also Chairs the UK’s largest Thai Charity Safe Child Thailand.
Narisa, who is quarter Thai, quarter Russian and half British, was born in London but spent the early years of her life in Cornwall and Bangkok, attending school in both countries and is bi-lingual; speaking Thai and English. She has a degree in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute, London University, and a Masters in Southeast Asian Area studies from SOAS, London University. She founded River Books in 1990 and has published over 200 titles on the art, history and culture of Mainland Southeast Asia, in particular Thailand. She has a small boutique hotel in the grounds of her Bangkok home, Chakrabongse Villas. Her husband, Gee, is half Thai and she has two sons.
Adrian Keeling QC grew up in Warwick and after reading Law at Trinity Hall Cambridge was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple. He has practised as a barrister since, and was appointed one of her Majesty’s Counsel (QC or “silk”) in 2011. He has also been elected as a governing Bencher (or Master) of the Inner Temple. Adrian is Deputy Head of Chambers at No5 Chambers, the biggest set of barristers chambers in the UK with offices in London, Birmingham, Leicester and Bristol. He has a life long passion for south east Asia - Thailand in particular and has recently hosted visits by both the Thai Constitutional and Appeal Courts.
Trevor read Physics at Imperial College and spent his career working in Research and Development in the Steel Industry. Following retirement he has done occasional lecturing at Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam Universities. He joined the Society in 1986, and became Hon. Secretary in 1997. Although Trevor has never worked in Thailand, he has travelled extensively in the country, and for many years supported a Thai child in the rice growing area near Khon Kaen, through the charity 'World Family Plan'. He is also Hon. Treasurer of the South Yorkshire branch of the Art Fund.
Andrew was the Director of Thai Children's Trust, a UK charity which raises funds in Europe for Thai children's charities. During seventeen years in the job he visited Thailand many times and has developed a deep affection and respect for the country and the Thai people. He is currently Secretary of the Anglo-Thai Society, and a Board Member of pointB – a charity which focuses on rebuilding education systems and community governance in Myanmar.
With a background in senior management within the UK Secondary Education (Independent and State) sectors, Angela held the post of Deputy Principal prior to joining the Office of Educational Affairs (OEA), The Royal Thai Embassy, in 2003 in the role of Senior Education Advisor and Head of the Privately funded Student Section.
Her original in-depth research for her doctoral thesis focused on the specific cultural, social and academic challenges faced by Thai postgraduates studying in the UK.
Angela joined the Anglo-Thai Society in 2003 and was elected to the Executive Committee in May 2016. She is Chair of the ATS Educational Awards; a flagship annual event which celebrates the research of talented postgraduate Thai students studying at UK universities. She is also a founding member of the London Education And Research Network which provides an advisory platform for colleagues from diplomatic missions and liaises with members of the All Party Parliamentary Group with special interest in international students.
Susan is a member of the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. She previously taught Southeast Asian art and culture at Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York. She has curated exhibitions on the culture of Southeast Asia in the UK and Thailand.
In 2003 she curated Power Dressing (2003) an exhibition to launch the opening of the James HW Thompson Museum in Bangkok. Her list of publications, books, articles and papers can be viewed on her web site (www.susanconway.com).
Charlie graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA in Thai Studies in 2009, receiving the Saranrom Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement and a scholarship to continue her research into the field of disability policy in Thailand. She studied Thai language at Chiang Mai University and later completed a Master's in Thai Disability Policy whilst living in Bangkok.
Charlie has worked for the Thai Embassy as an independent researcher and for the Thai Office of Educational Affairs as an advisor on disability policy. More recently, Charlie has worked in the non-profit sector with several charities that support Thailand, including Safe Child Thailand, For Life Thailand, and Soi Dog Foundation.
Charlie is on the International Board of Childline Thailand and the Trustee Board of For Life Thailand, supporting safeguarding and development.
Saipin Lee has a wealth of experience in business and hospitality industry. She graduated with MBA from Hull and MSC in Real Estate from Reading. Saipin is also a Vice Chair of The Association of Thai Business in UK, a non- profit organisation that promotes and supports Thai business.
Quinton was a member of HM Diplomatic Service from 1977-2010. In London, he served as International Director of UK Trade and Investment. His overseas postings included Bangkok, Paris, Jakarta and Bucharest. He served as British Ambassador to Romania from 2002-06 and British Ambassador to Thailand from 2007-10. Since retiring from Diplomatic Service, Quinton has pursued a career in the private sector. He currently serves as Senior Adviser to the President of Thai Beverages and is on the board of Cottsway Housing Association and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. He also serves on the HS2 Hardship Panel and works as an advisor to Sindicatum Sustainable Resources and Prudential Plc. Quinton lives in the Cotswolds with his wife Alison and visits Thailand regularly. He is a fluent Thai speaker.
Tui is a professional guardian & educational advisor to Thai boarding school students. Having been sent to a prep school in Sussex in 1967, he continues to live and work in the UK, but still retains a close connection with Thailand.
Tui operated a Thai restaurant of the same name in London’s South Kensington (one of the first batches of Thai restaurants in the UK) between 1985 and 2001 when he sold the business to the Thai Square Group.
Greg has been Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand since December 1996. He has lived and worked in Thailand for 18 years. With 650 corporate members BCCT is the largest non-Asian foreign chamber in Thailand and the largest British Chamber in Asia. Greg is responsible for the overall day-to-day operations and development of the BCCT. Formed in 1946, it is the oldest foreign chamber in Thailand. Membership has increased by 80% in the last ten years and the number of events organised has tripled to 120 a year. Greg may be contacted via email at: greg@bccthai.com.
John came to England in 1965 and went to John Fisher boarding school in Surrey. After completing his schooling he started his medical training and graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London in 1981. He has worked at several hospitals in the UK and abroad but has now retired from his Consultant Haematologist NHS post at the North Middlesex Hospital, London. He remains in private practice at local BMI hospitals in north London. He was a member of a Guideline Development Group for National institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and is now a Committee member of the Anticoagulation Specialist Association. He is also currently an active member of the Pathology Council, Royal Society of Medicine and has been a member of the Anglo-Thai Society since 2001.
David is a highly respected and experienced Chairman and Chief Executive with over 35 years UK & International experience covering all aspects of the oil industry in the industry’s largest company, ExxonMobil. He joined Esso in London in 1968 and held various positions in the UK and Ireland including Operations Director and Retail Director of Esso UK plc before moving overseas with ExxonMobil as Director of Esso Australia and Exxon Chemicals Australia. He then moved to Thailand as Chairman and CEO of Esso Thailand plc and President of Esso Exploration and Production (Khorat) Inc. Six years in Thailand was followed by a move to Norway as President and CEO of Esso Norge AS and finally to Brussels as Regional Director, ExxonMobil Europe/FSU. He is a past Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce of Norway and a former Council Member of the European American Industrial Council. After retiring in 2004, he continues to live spend his time between Surrey and Spain and regular return trips to Thailand.
Noel Clehane is the Global Head of Public Policy at the global professional services organisation, BDO, and a chartered accountant with over 35 years’ experience in professional practice and public policy affairs. He has a particular focus in his work on economic and trade issues between Europe and ASEAN, notably Thailand, and is a Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board of the EU-ASEAN Business Council. He liaises closely with the Royal Thai Embassy in Brussels, was a speaker at the Thai-Belgium Business Forum in September 2023 and visits Thailand regularly.
Noel is the designated BDO representative on the UK-ASEAN Business Council, is a founding member of the board and current treasurer of ASEANChamEU as well as an active member of Asia Society Switzerland, the Belgian Vietnamese Alliance, the Vietnam-UK Network and Asia House in the UK.
Noel is a Fellow of both Chartered Accountants Ireland and of ICAEW in the UK (where he was a Council Member 2014-2021) and holds other advanced qualifications from The Law Society Ireland, Insead Paris, the Institute of Risk Management, Florida Atlantic University and Zurich University of Applied Sciences. He was Chairman of the European Services Forum from October 2017 until December 2021.
An enthusiastic student of languages, he is currently grappling with the Thai language!