In April this year, H.E. Mr. Jonathan Kings, Ambassador at the Embassy of New Zealand to the Kingdom of Thailand arrived in Bangkok, accompanied by Madame Amanda McDonald. Ambassador Jonathan received his credentials from the King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua in October. In addition to Thailand, he is also New Zealand Ambassador to Cambodia and Laos. At their residence in downtown Bangkok, Expat Life sat down with Ambassador Jonathan to learn about his perspective on Thailand and discuss the relations between the two countries.
Ambassador Jonathan arrived in Bangkok directly from home. This is his first posting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as Ambassador. His overseas postings in the past were with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to Paris and London. When he first joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2010, he was the Administrator of Tokelau, a non self-governing territory of New Zealand and part of the realm of New Zealand. A trained lawyer, the early years of his professional life were spent working with multi-national companies in the energy sector. Ambassador Jonathan joined the Foreign Service at the age of 49. He was most recently the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in charge of New Zealand’s development and cooperation programmes and New Zealand’s relationship with Pacific island countries.
Born in Auckland, Ambassador Jonathan moved to Wellington at the age of seven when his father took up a senior post in the Department of Education in the New Zealand government. Talking about other diplomats in his family, Ambassador Jonathan candidly shared that there are two other diplomats in his family, “Madame Mandy’s sister was a diplomat. She was the New Zealand High Commissioner in Vanuatu, India and Fiji prior to her retirement. My cousin is also a diplomat, and currently she is New Zealand’s Ambassador to France. I had the opportunity to visit Thailand when my cousin was posted in Bangkok many years ago. Hence, I have been very excited to take up my current posting in Thailand.”
Expat Life asked Ambassador Jonathan on his views of Thailand, “This year is the 66th year of diplomatic ties between our two countries. Thailand is one of New Zealand’s top trading partners. In the context of ASEAN, Thailand is very important with the 2nd largest G.D.P in addition to being one of the founding members. As Thailand is hosting the APEC Summit in November this year, and New Zealand is one of the members, we are looking for many opportunities for cooperation between our two countries.”
On similarities between New Zealand and Thailand, Ambassador Jonathan positively highlighted, “Let us point out the difference first and that is the weather, as many would agree, Thailand has three seasons, hot, hotter and very hot. New Zealand, on the other hand, has four seasons and we do have quite cold winters.” Back to our main discussion, “Thailand and New Zealand are not big countries, and we can benefit by working closely with each other in how we make our way in the world. Tourism is hugely important to both of our economies. We both have large agricultural sectors, and people in both our countries like to eat fresh, healthy food”
Ambassador Jonathan pointed out other similarities, “Both New Zealand and Thailand are experiencing changes in our demography. Both countries have aging populations. Auckland, our commercial city can be seen as a much smaller version of Bangkok, it is a vibrant multicultural city like Bangkok. More than a quarter of our current population were born overseas.”
On his goals during his term in Thailand, “we cannot deny how Covid has affected our lives and economies. We are also suffering from the consequences of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. My goals for the next years are to build back the strong connections between Thailand and New Zealand which we have enjoyed for many years, but which were disrupted by Covid. I aim to strengthen our trade cooperation, and to encourage more investment from New Zealand to Thailand, and vice versa as we seek to rebuild our economies. I aim to see the resumption of students, tourists and business people travelling between our two countries. I also see tremendous opportunities for our government officials to learn from each other, and for us to share views and approaches on the big regional and global challenges which we both face.”
Ambassador Jonathan’s days in Bangkok are varied. “The relationship between Thailand and New Zealand is very broad and has economic, political, social and cultural dimensions. My days reflect that. I can move from spending time with students who are considering study in New Zealand, to assisting New Zealand businesses in Thailand, to engaging with academia and the media to understand the issues influencing Thai policy, to conveying New Zealand’s views on issues with politicians and officials and sharing insights on issues, and to presenting New Zealand sporting or cultural representatives to the Thai public. A vital part of my job is also of course to provide assistance to New Zealanders in need.” In his spare time, Ambassador Jonathan admitted that golf is a favorite hobby.
For the past months, Ambassador Jonathan and Madame Mandy have managed to visit a few places in Thailand. “I am here with my wife Mandy. Our daughter and two grandchildren reside in Wellington. We have visited Hua Hin, Krabi and Pattaya and were particularly impressed with Sukhothai and Ayudhya; as two ancient kingdoms of Thailand. We very much looking forward to visiting other beautiful places during our term here.”
As our interview drew to a close, Ambassador Jonathan would like to share a more personal story with our Expat Life readers. “Two months ago, I had an emergency health issue and was admitted to hospital. I would like to compliment the outstanding professional health service I received in the medical treatment and the post-operation care. I was fortunate to experience Thailand healthcare, which I found to be absolutely superb.”
Ambassador Jonathan welcomes the opportunities to meet up with New Zealanders who reside in Bangkok. Plans are in place with the embassy to arrange visits to Phuket and Chiang Mai. He also enjoys meeting Thai students who study in New Zealand. “These Thai students are our best brand ambassadors. New Zealand has always been a favourite destination for Thai students to receive a safe and professional education. We hope that this trend will continue to thrive and tourism between our two nations will flourish again.”
