Jonathan Dale Kings is a New Zealand diplomat who is the current New Zealand ambassador to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. He was formerly the

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

from 2011 to 2015, and from 2017 to 2018; and the Deputy Secretary of the Pacific and Development Group from 2015 to 2022 as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade he joined in 2010. He was also responsible for New Zealand's relations with

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

. Kings graduated from the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kings had a career in law and held responsibilities in Investment New Zealand; New Zealand Trade and Enterprise; and Industry New Zealand. He also worked in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

. Before 2000, he was a chief executive at an Australasian energy sector consulting firm.

Early life and education

Jonathan Dale Kings was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in either 1961 or 1960. He is related to two other New Zealand diplomats. At 7 years old, his family moved to

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

when his father began working in a senior post for the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. He graduated from the Victoria University of Wellington.

Career

Kings held posts in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Paris whilst he was working for the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. From 2011 to 2015, Kings served as the 22nd administrator of Tokelau. In 17 December 2013, Kings announced that

would receive new ships with a capacity of 60 people that would travel to and from

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

each day by 2015. From 2017 to 2018, he served again as the administrator of Tokelau following the removal of David Nicholson as administrator. In April 2017, Kings ordered Tokelau to suspend puplic servants Puka and Suveinakama for corruption. In mid-March 2020, he approved financial aid to twelve Pacific nations in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and also medical aid to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Timor-leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos

On 26 January 2022, the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Nanaia Mahuta Nanaia Cybele Mahuta (born 21 August 1970) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Ma ...

, announced the appointment of Kings as the next ambassador to Thailand. Along with Amanda McDonald, he arrived in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

in late February 2022, where he then spent two months learning Thai. He then travelled to

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

in Laos to present his letter of credance to the Lao president,

Thongloun Sisoulith Thongloun Sisoulith (born 10 November 1945) is a Laotian politician and historian who serves as the general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the seventh president of Laos since 2021. Thongloun was born and educated in Houa ...

, on 23 February 2023. He assumed the role of ambassador to Thailand in April after

Songkran In many countries of South Asia and South East Asia, the traditional new year is calculated on the sun's entry into the constellation Aries as per the regional Hindu calendars or Buddhist calendars. The sun's entry into Aries is known as Sank ...

. In October, he received his credentials from the Thai king,

Vajiralongkorn Vajiralongkorn (born 28 July 1952) is King of Thailand. He is the tenth Thai monarch of the Chakri dynasty since ascending the throne in 2016 with the regnal name Rama X. The only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Queen Sirik ...

. On 26 May 2022, he attended the 78th session of the Commission on "From GDP to well-being and sustainability - Means and Measures" in Bangkok. Kings aims to rebuild New Zealand-Thailand relations after they were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 10 June 2022, Kings and the Cambodian Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Tout Panha held a meeting to further Cambodia-New Zealand relations. Later on, he officially launched the 2023 Selection Round for the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships on 1 February 2023 in Cambodia, offering up to 35 scholarships to Cambodians seeking to help develop Cambodia. Kings has also worked with the New Zealand embassy to encourage Thai students to seek education in New Zealand. On 18 August, he attended the "Maori & Thai Song Dam" exhibition held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, which aimed to strengthen connections between ethnic Maoris and Lao Songs.

Personal life

Kings' favourite hobby is

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. He is married to Madame Mandy, whom they live together in downtown Bangkok. Together they have one daughter and two grandchildren who reside in Wellington. As ambassador, he has visited

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locall ...

Hua Hin Hua Hin (, ) is one of eight districts (''amphoe'') of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula in Thailand. Its seat of government, also named Hua Hin, is a beach resort town. The district's population was estim ...

Krabi Krabi (, ) is the capital of and main town in Krabi Province (''thesaban mueang''), on the west coast of southern Thailand, where the Krabi River flows into Phang Nga Bay. The town lies south of Bangkok, and as of 2020, has a population of 32, ...

Pattaya Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the List of municipalities in Thailand, eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and h ...

and Sukhothai with his wife. The two also enjoy visiting museums and art galleries in Bangkok. In September 2022, he was admitted to a hospital in Thailand.

References

Living people Administrators of Tokelau New Zealand diplomats Year of birth missing (living people) {{tokelau-politician-stub