This June, members and leadership from around the country gathered in Bangkok for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to elect the Executive Committee for Democrats Abroad Thailand. The AGM is always a great opportunity for active members from around the country to meet face to face to discuss strategy and re-energize for the year. Heartfelt farewells and thank yous went out to Phil Robertson, the outgoing Chair for a job well done, and those present welcomed Paul Risley into the position. Paul is a long time member of DAT and has served in various roles in the organization over the years. He will be supported by 3 Vice Chairs: Gary Suwannarat, Rick Graves and Russel Berman.

Newly elected executive committee members for 2019/ 2020:

Paul Risley, Meghan Driscoll and Rosalia Gitau

 

 

 

Outgoing Chiang Mai Chair, Shana Kongmun and newly elected Chiang Mai Chair Andre Scott

 

Vice Chair for DA Thailand, Gary Suwannarat

 

Chiang Mai Chair and Black Caucus Coordinator, Andre Scott, Harold and new member, Kim discussing politics

 

Newly Elected Chair for DA Thailand, Paul Risley

 

Chair- Paul Risley

Vice- Chairs - Russel Berman, Rick Graves, Gary Suwannarat

Treasurer- Peter Fischbach

Secretary- Meghan Driscoll

At-Large Members- Tom Helper and Henry Silverman

DPCA Voting Representatives - Shana Kongmun and Michael Marsh

Over the course of the evening, ample discussion was had on upcoming events.  Plans are underway for debate watch parties and Independence Day events.  Furthermore, efforts are being made to introduce tiny actions for political engagement during events and identify new ways to increase accessibility to our events to a greater number of Americans living in our communities.

Last but not least, Andre Scott volunteered to become the new Coordinator for our Black Caucus! Welcome Andre and we look forward to new opportunities to promote racial justice equity in America!  DAT has a new initiative to start organizing local special interest groups (caucuses) : Youth Caucus, Women's Caucus, LGBT Caucus, Progressive Caucus and Veteran's Caucus to name a few. These groups are open for any US Citizen to join anyone can be an ally. To join, sign-up on our Global caucus page and follow us on FB or email the Caucus Coordinator for Thailand, Meghan Driscoll [email protected]

We are always looking for more volunteers to host events: small debate watch parties, call-congress parties, caucus events etc.  2020 is right around the corner and outreach to more Americans in Thailand starts today.