AMCHAM Member Briefing with U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Michael Heath

In a members-only meeting, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Michael Heath shared details about the U.S. government’s strategy to donate 80 million doses of vaccine globally as well as its commitment to deepen its ties in the Indo-Pacific region – both of which were in the spotlight during Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman’s recent visit to Thailand and the region. 

Recognizing Thailand’s strategic importance as the heart of ASEAN and, more broadly, the Indo-Pacific region, the Chargé reaffirmed Thailand’s pivotal role in driving economic recovery post Covid-19. The Chargé expressed concerns about the impact of the resurgence of the pandemic in South-East Asia and pledged the U.S. government’s full support to combating the pandemic by increasing the supply of vaccines not only to Thailand but globally as well.  

The Chargé frankly acknowledged the concerns expressed by U.S. citizens about the availability of vaccines, and provided an email id that has been specifically set up to receive these inquiries. Although there are no plans to vaccinate U.S. citizens outside of the Thai government vaccination effort, the Embassy is working with the Thai government to assist wherever possible in support of the vaccine rollout to all residents of Thailand. In the subsequent question-and-answer session, he fielded many questions from members, and committed to responding by email to any questions that were not answered in the session itself.   

In addition to pandemic-related matters, Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman and Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha covered topics of regional stability and strategies to promote overall peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region, and restoring democracy in Burma, both of which are key U.S. policy priorities under the Biden Administration.   

The event ended with a question-and-answer session between the Chargé and AMCHAM members. John D. Breidenstine, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs and ASEAN Regional Senior Commercial Officer, U.S. Embassy, and ex-officio to AMCHAM introduced the Chargé at the beginning of the event.