Not long ago, I had the pleasure of meeting the newly appointed Executive Director of Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, Amelié Jakobsson – a warm, charming, and beautiful Thai-Swedish woman.
Amelié was born in the city of Växjö, in the county Småland in Sweden. Växjö is also where she grew up and attended school.
She graduated from the IB program at Katedralskolan. After completing the IB, she continued to the Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), where she studied International Management. This was also when she was an exchange student at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and lived in Thailand on her own for the first time.
After this she returned to Sweden for a brief stay before setting her sights on London and its world of theatre and musicals.
In London she worked her way up from usher to production assistant for companies such as Mackintosh Ltd and Sonia Friedman Productions, both highly respected names in the musical theatre industry. She also had the pleasure of working for producers such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and Sonia Friedman. The creators behind many of the world’s most beloved plays and musicals.
This is a world where Amelié is like a fish in water. Amelie went on to spend five years in London, and during those years she also worked on The Book of Mormon, a rather provocative musical that stirred strong emotions among audiences.
During our, so far, brief conversation, I have come to realize that Amelié is a young woman who knows what she wants, and her motto seems very fitting, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”.
When Covid came, she was fortunate enough to get on one of the last flights back to Sweden. Once back in Sweden, she decided to return to her studies. It felt like a very uncertain time, so she took the opportunity to start a bachelor’s degree in Language and Political Science. Much of it through online studies from her home in Växjö but also in person at Linnaeus University.
At this point, I began to wonder what had led Amelié to apply for the position of Executive Director of SWECHAM. I asked her if she had any previous experience of this kind of work and learned that she had joined the Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok, as an intern for one semester in 2023. This internship formed part of the bachelor’s degree she was pursuing at that time. When she graduated, she went on to earn her master’s degree in International Relations.
It was during her years studing for her master’s degree that she spent one year in Seoul, South Korea, where her main interest focused on Asian security issues. During her first semester, the Graduate Program was Global Studies at Yonsei University and she also a trainee at the Embassy of Sweden in Seoul at the department for Promotion and Trade and department for Science and Innovation for another semester.
She spoke warmly about the successful visit of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel to the Republic of Korea in October 2025 and she remained in South Korea until January 2026.
The reason she applied for the position of Executive Director at Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, was her strong desire to pursue this line of work and to return to Bangkok and Thailand. Amelié revealed that she has always felt drawn to Bangkok. She is also a highly social person, which makes her particularly well suited for this role.
Currently, the Chamber has around 120 corporate members, quite a significant increase compared with previous years. Amelié also emphasized the importance of retaining members and explains that one of her future goals is to bridge the cultural divide between Swedish and Thai business culture, ensuring that both Swedish and Thai companies feel equally important and welcome. This is something she greatly values and hopes to bring to the members.
In fact this follows the advice she received from the country manager of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Seoul.
What lies ahead on the agenda?
Amelié mentions about the Sustainability Business Forum (SBF), a collaboration between the Swedish, Swiss, Dutch, and French chambers, that takes place annually. She also mentioned the popular Midsummer Luncheon, which this year will take place on 6 June, Sweden’s National Day, at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit. She warmly encouraged Swedes in Bangkok who may be missing home to join the celebration.
Naturally, I also had to ask what Amelié enjoys doing in her spare time, if she will have any in the near future? She did not hesitate long before answering; listening to music, attending concerts, and naturally, musicals, as well as taking long walks.
Travelling is another great passion of hers.
Recently, she made a short visit to Seoul, where she met up with friends, and indulged in a bit of shopping. Amelié also recently finally received her Thai citizenship. By the way, she is fluent in both Swedish and Thai.
Meaning that nothing now seems to stand in her way. ‘It is full speed ahead,’ she says with a bright smile. And one cannot help but believe her.
In the end, all that remained for me was to wish her the very best of luck and warmly welcome her to Bangkok.
