Ex-minister Nitya, 72, passes away

He was pronounced dead at about 2.30pm at Bumrungrad Hospital. The funeral bathing ceremony is scheduled for 3pm today, with the presentation of royal lustral water at 5pm, at Wat Phrasri Mahathat today.
Nitya was the sixth child of late former prime minister Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram and Than Phuying La-iad Bhandhukravi.
He served as the Thai ambassador to the United States between 1984 and 2000, and later became Thailand’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations. He served briefly as permanent secretary for foreign affairs before retiring from his bureaucratic career.
After his retirement, he served as Thailand’s chief negotiator for a Thai-US free trade agreement talk. In 2006, he was appointed foreign minister in a post-coup government.