Ambassador Douglas H M Gibson

Douglas Harvey Monro Gibson is the South African Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and to Laos. He is also permanent observer at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

He is married to Pam, and they have one adult son, Donald.

Douglas Gibson was born in Germiston on 8 August 1942. He was educated at the High School for Boys, Potchestroom, at Pretoria University and at the University of South Africa (Unisa). He has a BA (Law) degree from Unisa and has an Attorneys Admission Diploma, is a Conveyancer and is an Attorney. He has a BA Honours degree in Political Science.

HE served Articles with Bowman, Gilfillan and Blacklock and was a partner and director successively in the law firms AE Cook, Cook and Falconer, Handelsman and Douglas Gibson, and Moss-Morris Incorporated. He is currently a consultant to the Johannesburg firm Horwitz Incorporated.

Douglas Gibson was active in politics from childhood. He first contested an election as a candidate against the Apartheid government in 1965 and subsequently was a candidate in twelve further elections. He served in local government for five years as a Councillor, 16 years in Provincial Government including being the Opposition Spokesperson on Finance from 1974 to 1986 and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1986. He was elected to Parliament as the MP for Yeoville at the beginning of 1991.

Douglas Gibson was elected to the new democratic National Assembly in 1994 and re-elected in 1999 and 2004. He served as the Opposition Chief Whip as an Office Bearer of Parliament for 13 years until retiring as Chief Whip in May 2007. He was then appointed as the Opposition spokesperson on Finance, having served in previous periods as the spokesperson on such diverse portfolios as Justice, Safety and Security, Correctional Services, Defence, Transport and Foreign Affairs.

In July 2007 he accepted an invitation to become a diplomat and the President, on the advice of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, appointed him as the Ambassador to Thailand. He took up his appointment in Bangkok on 29 February 2008.