Thanat Khoman

Life and career

Thanat was born in Bangkok and came from a Thai Chinese family. His father, Phraya Phiphaksa Satayathipatai (Po Khoman) was one of Siam's first law school graduates and a judge who on the Supreme Court of Thailand. Thanat attended Assumption College in Bangkok, before he went to France, graduating from a Bordeaux lycée. Supplied with a scholarship from the Thai foreign ministry, he continued his studies in Bordeaux and Paris, earning degrees from the Institute of Higher International Studies (IHEI) and Sciences Po in 1939, as well as a doctor of law degree from the University of Paris in 1940.

After his return to Thailand, Thanat was obliged to join the diplomatic service, as the foreign ministry had financed his studies. During World War II he was stationed as a second secretary at the Thai embassy in Tokyo from 1941 to 1943. During this time, the Thai-Japanese agreement of 1942 was concluded, allowing Japanese troops to march through Thailand and use it as a base for attacks on British Burma and Malaya and leading to Thailand's entry into the war on the Axis side. However, Thanat disagreed with what was perceived as a virtual Japanese occupation of Thailand and joined the Seri Thai ("Free Thai") resistance movement that was supported by the British Force 136 and the American OSS. In February 1945, he was a member of a secret delegation to the Allied South East Asia Command in Kandy, Ceylon.

After the Second World War, he held a number of diplomatic posts, including chargé d'affaires at the Thai embassies in Washington, D.C. and Delhi. In 1950 he was chosen as the chairman of the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) in New York City. From 1952 to 1957 he served as the deputy to the Permanent Representative from Thailand to the United Nations. In 1957 he was promoted to the post of the Ambassador of Thailand to the United States. On 10 February 1959 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in the government of authoritarian Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat. His major contribution was in promoting regional reconciliation and cooperation in Southeast Asia. He was a participant in SEATO talks in 1961. In March 1962 he signed a joint communiqué with U.S. State Secretary Dean Rusk in which the U.S. promised Thailand support and defense against potential Communist aggression. Despite being only an informal protocol, it was celebrated in Thailand as a bilateral pact of the two countries, dubbed the "Rusk-Thanat Agreement". In the 1960s Thanat played a key role in mediating between Indonesia and Malaysia. The choice of Bangkok as the founding place of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) on 8 August 1967 was an expression of respect for his active role in the formation of this institution. On 17 November 1971 he resigned his post after a coup d'état.

After his resignation as foreign minister, Thanat entered national politics in 1979 and served as chairman of the Democrat Party until 1982. Between 1980 and 1982 he was also deputy prime minister in the government of Prem Tinsulanonda. In 1982 he retired from political life. He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2014. His wife, Molee, is a maternal granddaughter of Tan Kim Ching.

Foreign honour