In a concrete sign of the enduring U.S. - Thai alliance and friendship, Ambassador Michael George DeSombre, Consul General Sean K. O'Neill, Thai Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Vijavat Isarabhakdi, and Chiang Mai Governor Charoenrit Sanguansat broke ground today on the new U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The new U.S. Consulate General will provide a secure, modern, and resilient platform for the conduct of U.S. diplomacy in northern Thailand. Ennead Architects of New York, NY is the design architect for the project and B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, AL is the construction contractor. The project is expected to be completed in 2023.
Throughout this project, an estimated $45 million will be invested in the local economy. The project will employ an estimated 600 American, Thai, and third-country nationals. Approximately 70% of the workforce will be recruited from the local labor pool. Many of these workers will gain new skills that will help distinguish them from other construction workers in the local labor market.
Since the start of the U.S. Department of State's Capital Security Construction Program in 1999, the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has completed 162 new diplomatic facilities and has an additional 51 projects in design or under construction.
OBO provides safe, secure, functional, and resilient facilities that represent the U.S. government to the host nation and support the Department's achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives abroad. These facilities represent American values and the best in American architecture, design, engineering, technology, sustainability, art, culture, and construction execution.
