Noppadon was born in Nakhon Ratchasima and educated at Thammasat University, Bangkok, where he graduated top of his class in law in 1982 and won a Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States.
Noppadon Pattama, the foreign minister of Thailand, wants to call the forum the Council on Rice Trade Cooperation and was planning, as of May 2008, to invite; China, India, Pakistan, Cambodia, Burma, and Vietnam.