Direk Jayanama

Direk Jayanama, a leading figure in Thai foreign affairs for many years, first joined the foreign service in 1933. Between 1938 and 1941 he became first Deputy and then Foreign Minister of Thailand. In 1942 he was sent as Thai Ambassador to Tokyo, and after his return to Thailand at the end of 1943 served once again as Foreign Minister until August 1944, when he retired from public life in order to devote his energies to the Free Thai resistance movement. During the post-war years Direk served successively as Thailand’s Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Ambassador to England and later Ambassador to West Germany and to Finland. He also became a law lecturer and later Dean of the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University, where he was well known for his writings on public affairs. Professor Direk died in 1967.