The untimely death of Virachai Plasai, the Thai ambassador to the United States, is a great loss to Thailand's diplomacy and the country's state service.
His passing, at 58, which occurred at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, yesterday sent the country into a state of shock.
Ambassador Virachai assumed his position in the US capital in June 2018, moving from New York where he had served as the ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations since March 2015.
While serving at the UN in New York, he made a number of achievements, including his role as chair of the Group of 77, the largest grouping of countries at the United Nations, for the year 2016.
The Sorbonne graduate with a doctorate degree in law joined the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1987. With competence and strong knowledge in international laws, he quickly climbed up the bureaucratic ladder.
Fluent in English and French, and well equipped with diplomatic skills, Virachai was a member of the government's legal counsel in several disputes heard by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), from 1998 to 2003, and served as a panelist and arbitrator for the WTO on a range of cases. He authored several works on the settlement of trade disputes.
The Thai public remembers him best for his role in the Preah Vihear conflicts, the case that made him the "Phrea Vihear hero" to local patriots. Back then, he was the Thai ambassador to the Netherlands (2009-2015) where the International Court of Justice was located.
Ambassador Virachai led a team of legal experts to defend the country's interests in the high profile land dispute with Cambodia which broke out into violence in 2008 until the judgement was rendered in 2013.
For his more than 30 years serving in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador Virachai was known as a man of principle who dared to fight against what he believed was wrong and unjust. (Story continues below)
Due to his convictions, he faced a lightning transfer from the position of head of the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department to an inactive post, issued on May 6, 2008, by then-foreign minister Noppadon Pattama, who unfortunately regarded Virachai's integrity as a form of disobedience.
The unjust transfer, which was made shortly before the Preah Vihear crisis flared up, eventually robbed the minister of public trust in dealing with the border dispute that was politicised by hardcore elements of the red- and yellow-coloured factions as ultra-nationalism hit its peak.
A day after the transfer order, Virasakdi Futrakul, then-permanent secretary for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, wrote a letter to officials at the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department (Virachai's subordinates), praising the veteran diplomat for what he had done to "protect national interests" and also commended him as a role model for diplomats.
Such a letter, in handwriting, is a rare phenomenon for the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
On July 14, 2008, Mr Noppadon resigned in disgrace after a verdict was issued by the Constitutional Court which ruled that a Preah Vihear-related document he signed was unconstitutional. The Samak Sundaravej government did not survive the political crisis, either.
In the following year, Ambassador Virachai left the inactive position for the post in the Hague, Netherlands, with a crucial mission to contain the damage from the Preah Vihear conflicts.
He managed to convince overly-sensitive Thais to accept the ICJ ruling over the complicated issue, paving the way for the two neighbouring countries to mend broken relations.
In his last assignment, he worked as the chief negotiator for a team tackling the problem of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing with the EU which imposed a yellow card on the country in 2015.
The team's strong teamwork was met with great success as the EU finally agreed to remove Thailand from a list of yellow-carded countries early this year.
There is no question about Ambassador Virachai's competency and his dedication to the country. With his staunch belief in principle and courageous heart, the veteran diplomat proved that he was a role model, not just for fellow diplomats at the Foreign Affairs Ministry but also officials in state service.
His passing is a tremendous loss, not just to the ministry, but also to the bureaucratic system and country as a whole.