Mr. Thanawat Tiensin has been appointed as Assistant Director-General effective August 1, 2024, Chief Veterinarian effective February 1, 2024, and Director of Animal Production and Health Division effective August 25, 2022. Additionally, he was assigned as Director Interim (Officer-in-Charge) at the Joint FAO/IAEA Center of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Vienna, Austria from November 2022 to July 2024.
In 2018-2022, Mr. Tiensin served as Minister (Agriculture) and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations Agencies in Rome (FAO/IFAD/WFP). He served in several FAO governing bodies and committees, such as Chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security (CSF), Chairperson of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), Vice Chair of the FAO Conference and the FAO Council, Vice Chair of the Committee of Agriculture (COAG) and COAG Sub-Committee on Livestock, member of FAO Finance Committee, etc. He was also appointed as the Advisory Committee of the UN Food Systems Summit.
In 1999, Mr Tiensin joined the Department of Livestock Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand where he held positions of increasing responsibility, as Technical Assistant to the Director General, Senior Veterinary Officer, Head of International Livestock Trade and Regulation Group, Senior Expert in International Livestock Affairs, and Assistant Director General. In 2002-2003, he worked at the Mission of Thailand to the European Union in Brussels. Since 2008, he has held an international consultancy position with FAO, IAEA, EU, ABD, and WOAH in Bangladesh, DPR Korea, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, etc.
Mr Tiensin, a national of Thailand, holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and a Master of Sciences (M.Sc.) in Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) from Kasetsart University, Thailand. He was a research fellow at Colorado State University, the United States.