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Frank Le is the new Senior Trade Commissioner at the Canadian embassy in Thailand. He’s been at this job for almost half a year now and is settling in just fine.
He has big shoes to fill and knows it as his predecessor Sanjeev Chowdhury literally changed the way Trade Commissioners do business here. Gone are the days of being chained to a desk and attending the occasional embassy function. These days, social media and the importance of networking have become so vital to business success these days and Frank realizes this.

Luckily, Frank has all the tools to succeed: charming, intelligent, and very sociable, he is already carving out a niche for himself in the short time he has been here. He also realizes how important it is for the Embassy and CanCham Thailand to work together as both organizations benefit from that close cooperation, feeding off each other’s strengths, elevating the Canadian presence in Thailand.

Frank was born in Ottawa after his parents emigrated to Canada from Vietnam in the early 60s through a UN scholarship program. Originally from northern Vietnam, they moved to the south and traveled to Canada separately, later meeting in Montreal where they were studying chemistry and engineering at the Polytechnic Montreal. Frank’s father then took a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering at McMaster University followed by a doctorate in Economics at the University of Toronto before working for Transport Canada, Industry Canada and other departments as an economist.

Frank attended high school in Ottawa and then took a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Guelph, graduating in 1999. After that, he did a year in student government holding a position as Academic Counsellor for the student union at Guelph.

He then took his Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the University of California at San Diego. He had an early interest in computer hardware and software along with aquaculture and marine biology, so dabbled in that for a bit, having worked at a pet store and computer store when he was younger. We should mention that Frank was passionate about playing baseball as a pitcher and took up all other positions at one point, and as a lifelong Blue Jays fan, briefly had dreams of playing baseball at higher levels if only he had not stopped growing at 15.

In 2001, Frank took a year off from graduate studies and went to Vietnam for the first-time joining Baker & McKenzie as an intern in Ho Chi Minh City for six months. He wanted to reconnect with his roots, meet some of his relatives for the first time and improve his Vietnamese language skills. He also did some contract work on the side for the Canadian consulate in Ho Chi Minh City thanks to Francis Uy (now Canada’s Senior Trade Commissioner to Hungary, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) who hired him to take photos of an event CanCham in Vietnam was staging. Ironically, later on in life, both Francis and later Yvonne Chin (latter previously served as the Senior Trade Commissioner in Bangkok and Asia Director for the Canadian Commercial Corporation also based in Bangkok) preceded Frank as the Head of Office and Consul at the Canadian consulate in Guadalajara.

After his time with Baker & Mackenzie came to an end, Frank spent three months traveling through northern Vietnam, teaching some English and doing some contracts for the Canadian embassy in Hanoi. Since Sapa was so close to China, he traveled up there, walked across the border and spent three months backpacking through China spending a few weeks in Beijing, learning Chinese.

He then went back to university in California for a year, graduating from that program in 2003. Developing an interest in Latin America, he next traveled to Mexico and Central America, was then able to get an internship from ex-CIDA to study Canadian-Mexican relations in Mexico from the perspective of Canada as a Middle Power for another six months.

He was then offered a “term” position with the then-Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2004, which would allow him to start paying back his student loans. Before starting the job though, he spent five weeks in South America, including traveling from Peru through to Venezuela with the political chaos and recall referendum with Hugo Chavez.

His first job in the federal government was from 2004 – 2006 as an Investment Officer, in the Investment Services Division, of International Trade Canada in Ottawa. He then won a competition, which allowed him to become a full-time federal employee.

His first full-time position was as a Trade Commissioner for Asia and Oceania Commercial Relations Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa from 2006–2007. He then moved to Toronto for a year as Trade Commissioner in the Ontario Regional Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. This brought him closer to his wife to-be Christine, who was living and studying there.

From 2008-2010, he then moved to the China Bilateral Commercial Relations Desk before taking Mandarin language training at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa with the aim of being stationed in China.

In April 2010, he arrived in China as the Vice Consul and Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Consulate General in Shanghai just as the World Expo was happening. Two years later, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an historic first state visit to China, and specifically Chongqing, while Frank was temporarily stationed, which saw him leave with a panda.

He then went back to Ottawa as a Policy Officer from 2012-2014 in the International Crime and Terrorism Division of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. Kent Vachon, who is now our ambassador to Laos, was his boss back then. In 2014, Frank took time off for paternity leave and to assist with a medical situation within his family.

From 2015-2018, Frank was back at work in Ottawa, serving as the Deputy Director responsible for Asia and Israel bilateral innovation engagement in the Science, Technology and Innovation division of Global Affairs Canada. During that time, he served as the acting Executive Director for the Science, Technology and Innovation Division of Global Affairs Canada from 2016-2017.

Then from 2018-2021, Frank and his family hit the road again as he was based at Canada’s High Commission in New Delhi, where he served as the First Secretary and Trade Commissioner, covering the infrastructure and clean technology sectors as well as leading on bilateral commercial engagement with Nepal and Bhutan. He led the Foreign Direct Investment and Infrastructure team for pan-India and in 2020, he also served as the acting Senior Trade Commissioner for South India in Bangalore, and led the South India Trade team across three offices. During this time, the COVID epidemic hit and part of Frank’s job was to arrange the evacuation of Canadian nationals as well as help those who were staying in quarantine safely and as comfortably as possible. He was separated from his family for six months then as they were flown back to Canada with all of the global uncertainty at the time.

His last position prior to coming to Bangkok was the Head of Office, Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner in Guadalajara covering western Mexico from 2022-25.
Regarding Canadian-Thai relations, Frank says that one of the areas where Canadian expertise could contribute relates to helping Thailand further develop new technologies and harness their potential to advance national priorities. This includes local pursuits such as net-zero ambitions, increased industrial and operating efficiencies through the incorporation of novel practices, and exploring domestic commitments relating to alternative clean energy such as small modular reactors and developing a sustainable extractives industry.

To leverage Canada’s extensive experience and global leadership in sustainable mining, one area being explored by the team relates to supporting Thailand’s priorities around critical minerals, including extraction, processing and storage along with a responsible regulatory system and eventual sustainable supply chain that is fundamental to Thailand’s longer-term industrial ambitions. Also, Canadian companies have made great strides fighting cybercrime globally and developing cyber security, which will help Thailand crack down on malware and the notorious regional call centres. Canada’s agriculture technology can also help increase yields and productivity for Thai farmers. Lastly, Frank and the Embassy’s Commercial Team see a tremendous opportunity for growth in both the private and public sectors when it comes to facilitating two-way research collaboration in frontier sectors such as AI, quantum, Big Data, and leading-edge semiconductors between the two countries.
By the way, Frank’s wife, Christine, is a naturopathic doctor, also of Vietnamese ancestry, who was born in a UNHCR refugee camp in Malaysia. The couple have two children (12-year-old son Thai Son and 14-year-old daughter Mai Ly) living with them here in Bangkok. Professionally, personally, and work-wise, Frank is delighted with his posting in Thailand and thinks it’s a wonderful landing spot for his family.

Looking Ahead
This year, we celebrate 65 years of official Canadian-Thailand relations and there is a commitment by the Prime Ministers of Canada and Thailand to conclude negotiations for the long-awaited bilateral Free Trade Agreement, so Frank has a busy year ahead.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have caused Canada to look for and expand its global trade partnerships, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, and Prime Minister Carney has said he wants to double non-US trade exports within the next decade. That should mean plenty of work for Frank and his well-seasoned team in the Trade section of the embassy.

Platforms such as the IMF/World Bank meetings to be held in Bangkok in Fall 2026, and the Fête de la Francophonie to be held in Cambodia along with other global industry events in Thailand will provide opportunities for more participation from high-level delegations from the Canadian government and industry.