Roundtable with Dr Angela Macdonald PSM
Tuesday 28 May 2024
On Tuesday 28 May 2024, the Perth USAsia Centre hosted a roundtable discussion with Dr Angela Macdonald PSM, Australian Ambassador to Thailand.
Situated at the heart of Southeast Asia, Thailand is an emerging manufacturing powerhouse and important middle power in the Indo-Pacific. But the country is also navigating complex challenges, balancing close ties with both the US and China while grappling with entrenched conflicts not only in its Southern region but also in neighbouring Myanmar.
Ambassador Macdonald joined us for a robust conversation on Thailand’s trade and investment, domestic political trends, and geostrategic landscape. Through this discussion, participants explored avenues to deepen the Australia-Thailand strategic and economic partnership.
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Biography
Dr Angela Macdonald has been the Australian Ambassador to Thailand since 2022.
Before arriving in Thailand, she served as First Assistant Secretary of Middle East and Africa Division.
She has served overseas as Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Kabul and on postings to Brussels and Wellington.
In Canberra, she has worked in the International Division, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), Crisis Management Branch and Parliamentary and Media Branch in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as Executive Officer to the Secretary of PM&C, and Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Angela received the Public Service Medal in 2015 for outstanding public service in leading DFAT’s Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 Emergency Response team in Ukraine.
Dr Macdonald holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and PhD (History) from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington.