Thai Ambassador Chaiyong Satjipanon is leaving Korea to take up a new posting in the U.S. capital. Satjipanon will depart for America next month to become ambassador in Washington D.C.

As part of his diplomatic duties here, Satjipanon most recently facilitated the visit of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit on March 26-27.

On her first official visit here, Shinawatra agreed on a target of $30 billion in bilateral trade between Thailand and Korea in the next five years.

Ambassador Satjipanon, who started his posting here in August 2010, was previously ambassador to Indonesia, and his country’s representative in the United Nations and other organizations.

Chaiyong obtained his M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in the U.S. and has received decorations from Thailand and Indonesia as well as from other countries.

The final months of the ambassador’s time in Korea have been troubled, as he filed a criminal complaint with Korean police accusing Soonchunhyang University Hospital of medical malpractice and a lack of professionalism leading to the death of his wife.

Thitinart Satjipanon died last Sept. 19 after being admitted to the hospital in Hannam-dong, Seoul with abdominal pains.

The ambassador maintains that her death was due to negligence of hospital staff, but the international clinic denies any wrongdoing. Satjipanon is also pursuing similar criminal proceedings in Bangkok.

By Kirsty Taylor (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)