Thomas Parks
Thomas Parks is The Asia Foundation’s vice president for strategic partnerships, leading efforts to strengthen partnerships with governments, development organizations, multinational corporations, and foundations.
Tom is the author of Southeast Asia’s MultipolarFuture: Averting a New Cold War (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023), a book on the geopolitics of Southeast Asia. He is an expert on Asiangeopolitics, international development, political economy, ASEAN regional cooperation, and security in Southeast Asia.
Tom has extensive experience in Asia and the Pacific, working across 20 countries over 25 years. From 2017 to February 2024, he was the Foundation’s country representative in Thailand.
He spent four years with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) where he served as senior governance and fragility specialist from 2013 to 2017.
From 2008 to 2013, he served as the Foundation’s regional director for conflict and governance. He is based in Bangkok, Thailand, where he has lived since 2008.