Hun Sen launches another savage blast at Abhisit

17/12/2009
Bangkok Post

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has launched a fresh attack on the Thai government, saying relations will continue to simmer while the Abhisit government remains in office.

Relations between the two countries, which have fought a string of deadly gun battles along their border since last year, plunged last month when fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra became an economic adviser to Cambodia.

Both recalled their ambassadors last month and diplomatic tensions were further raised when Phnom Penh refused to extradite Thaksin during his first visit as economic adviser.

"I tell you [Mr Abhisit] I'm waiting for the next Thai government to come to power and for them to send back the ambassador," said Hun Sen in a speech at a Phnom Penh ceremony.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in a four-page statement yesterday the already sour relationship between Bangkok and Phnom Penh had been worsened by Hun Sen's interference in Thai affairs and his insults of the Thai judicial process.

"The Thai-Cambodian relationship was normal up to Oct 21, but it became worse after that [when Hun Sen came out to criticise Thai politics and appoint Thaksin as his economic adviser]. It is necessary to tackle the problem at the root in order to solve it," he said.

But Hun Sen said yesterday the issue which had soured ties was the dispute over the ancient Preah Vihear temple.

"You raise the issue of Thaksin, but you forget the issue of Preah Vihear," he said, in reference to the 11th century Khmer temple at the centre of the deadly border dispute between the two countries.

"I want to say that relations cannot be normalised as long as you are still invading me," Hun Sen said.

Mr Kasit yesterday also came out in defence of Kamrob Palawatwichai, the diplomat under attack for his part in the jailing in Cambodia of convicted spy Sivarak Chutipong.

"The minister never ordered Mr Kamrob to carry out any espionage action in Cambodia nor did it order him to undertake a task inappropriate to the diplomatic framework," Mr Kasit said in the statement released yesterday by the Foreign Ministry on his behalf while he is in China.

Mr Kamrob was expelled from Cambodia on Nov 12 for telephoning Sivarak, a Thai aviation engineer working for Cambodia Air Traffic Services, on Nov10 to check Thaksin's flight arrival details.

Mr Kasit said the root of the problem was Thaksin who had entered Cambodia despite being a fugitive from Thai justice.