Taiwan’s envoy to Thailand resigns less than a year after taking office

Bangkok, June 21 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has approved the resignation of Taiwan’s representative to Thailand Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), the Presidential Office announced on late Wednesday, less than a year since he took up the post in Bangkok.

An unnamed source told CNA that Chuang resigned due to family reasons.

In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said Chuang offered his resignation in mid-June “over personal reasons,” without elaborating, a decision MOFA has full respect.

Neither the Presidential Office nor MOFA has yet to announce who will succeed Chuang.

Chuang, 67, was named the nation’s top envoy to Thailand on June 13, 2022, before officially taking up the post in Bangkok on July 31 that same year.

Before taking up the post in Thailand, Chuang was the vice chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

He had previously served as Cabinet spokesman, deputy minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council, and a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator from 2005 to 2008 when the party was in opposition.

He took up the post to fill the vacancy left by the departure of then-representative Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), who resigned in August 2021 over poor health.

After Lee returned to Taiwan, he passed away in November 2021, aged 68.