Klas Molin has been appointed to be new Swedish Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Kingdom of Cambodia and the Union of Myanmar. He will replace Lennart Linnér as the head of the mission in South-East Asia.
Mr Lennart will take up his new post as the Swedish Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines.
Mr Molin has been head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Department for Asia and the Pacific Region since 2006. He has previously served at the embassies in Bangkok and Washington and at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations in New York.
Mr Molin will hand over his credentials to the Thai authorities in August 2011.
Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines
2007- Ambassador of Sweden to the Kingdom of Thailand, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Kingdom of Cambodia and the Union of Myanmar
In This Story: Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. Buddhism is enshrined in the constitution as the official state religion, and is practised by more than 97% of the population. Cambodia’s minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 hill tribes.
The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch chosen by the Royal Council of the Throne as head of state. The head of government is the Prime Minister.
Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. The United Nations designates Cambodia as a least developed country.
Laos is a Southeast Asian country traversed by the Mekong River and known for mountainous terrain, French colonial architecture, hill tribe settlements and Buddhist monasteries. Vientiane, the capital, is the site of the That Luang monument, where a reliquary reportedly houses the Buddha’s breastbone, plus the Patuxai war memorial and Talat Sao (Morning Market), a complex jammed with food, clothes and craft stalls.
Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 ethnic groups, bordering India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. Yangon (formerly Rangoon), the country’s largest city, is home to bustling markets, numerous parks and lakes, and the towering, gilded Shwedagon Pagoda, which contains Buddhist relics and dates to the 6th century.
Sweden is a Scandinavian nation with thousands of coastal islands and inland lakes, along with vast boreal forests and glaciated mountains. Its principal cities, eastern capital Stockholm and southwestern Gothenburg and Malmö, are all coastal. Stockholm is built on 14 islands. It has more than 50 bridges, as well as the medieval old town, Gamla Stan, royal palaces and museums such as open-air Skansen.
Thailand is a Southeast Asian country. It’s known for tropical beaches, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins and ornate temples displaying figures of Buddha. In Bangkok, the capital, an ultramodern cityscape rises next to quiet canalside communities and the iconic temples of Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Emerald Buddha Temple (Wat Phra Kaew). Nearby beach resorts include bustling Pattaya and fashionable Hua Hin.
