Thai ambassador to US Virachai dies at 58

The career diplomat and legal expert had been suffering from Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and had been admitted to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland early this month.

He passed away at the hospital on Saturday at 0.43am local time in the US.

Prior to his current appointment, Virachai was the permanent representative to the United Nations since March 2015. Among his achievements while serving at the United Nations was his successful leadership of the Group of 77, the largest grouping of countries at the UN, as chairperson of the G-77 in 2016.

Virachai was the key official in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the contentious case on the Preah Vihear temple between Thailand and Cambodia in 2011-13 when he was the Ambassador of Thailand to the Netherlands, after serving his country in a variety of international economic, legal and diplomatic capacities.