Brian Davidson named as next British Ambassador to Thailand
British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent is now in his last year at the embassy in Bangkok. There is no news yet where he will be going next, but the Foreign & Commonwealth Office has just announced the name of his successor.
Mr Brian Davidson has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand in succession to Mr Mark Kent, who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Mr Davidson will take up his appointment during September 2016.
Mr Brian Davidson was born in 1964 and grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland. Brian was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Law at Trinity College, Cambridge before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1985. In September 2014, Brian married his American boyfriend Scott Chang in a ceremony officiated by British Ambassador Sir Sebastian Wood at the Ambassador’s residence in Beijing.
Brian Davidson is presently the Consul General in Shanghai. Although he won’t take up his role as ambassador for another year, he is undoubtedly already undergoing Thai language training in China. He is then expected to fine tune this here in Thailand in the months leading up to taking his post as ambassador in September 2016. He certainly has some big shoes to fill as Mark Kent is fluent in Thai and very active in the British and Thai community. Mark Kent is also active on Twitter (@KentBKK) with many Thai followers. It is not known yet if Brian Davidson will also be as accessible to the British community as Mark Kent.
