HE Pisan Manawapat

Pisan Manawapat

Pisan Manawapat is the 44th Thai ambassador to the United States of America.

Before arriving in Washington DC on 13 February 2015, Pisan Manawapat had served as Thai ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg, India and Canada. He presented his credential to the Honorable President Barack Obama at the White House on 23 February 2015.

His first overseas posting was in Washington DC (1986-1990) where he spent his first 12 months on Capitol Hill as APSA Congressional Fellow in the offices of Congressman Don J. Pease (D – Ohio) and US Senator Daniel P. Inouye (D – Hawaii).

He also served at the Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur (1993-1995) and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Tokyo (1999-2002).

Ambassador Pisan was appointed Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs from October 2002 until March 2004, during which he was also APEC SOM Leader for Thailand while Thailand hosted APEC 2003.

From 2004 to 2007, Pisan served as the Ministry’s Deputy Permanent Secretary supervising all bilateral relations. He was also Thailand’s Chief Negotiator for the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) from start to finish (2002-2006).

Between April 2007 and March 2011, Pisan was Thailand’s top diplomat in Brussels as Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and Head of Mission of Thailand to the European Union.

A Royal Decoration of Grand-Croix de l’Ordre de la Couronne was personally bestowed on Ambassador Pisan Manawapat by H.M. King Albert II, the King of the Belgians, on 21 February 2011 while he had his farewell audience.   Earlier, he had received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star of Japan in 2002.

On 5 December 2011, Ambassador Pisan was bestowed with the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, Thailand’s highest Royal Decoration for senior public servants.

Born in 1956, Pisan Manawapat attended Bangkok Christian College and Triam U-dom Suksa School in Bangkok. In 1975, he won a Foreign Ministry scholarship to read Economics in U.K. He graduated with B.Sc. (Econ) and M.Sc. (Econ), majoring in International Trade, from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, in 1980 and 1981 respectively. He also completed Thailand’s National Defence College in 2003.

He is married to Wanchana Manawapat and has one daughter.