Education
Smith was educated at Merchant Taylors" School and Brasenose College, Oxford.
Smith was educated at Merchant Taylors" School and Brasenose College, Oxford.
He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1968 and served in Bangkok, Paris, Dublin, Brussels and Bangkok (with a year at the École nationale d"administration in Paris). He was ambassador to Nepal 1995-1999 and ambassador to Thailand (concurrently non-resident ambassador to Laos) 2000-2003. He has been editor of Asian Affairs since 2005.
He has been a non-executive director since 2006, and chairman since 2011, of Coastal Energy, an oil and gas company working in Thailand and Malaysia.