Bangkok Post
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has brushed aside remarks by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that relations between his country and Thailand could only return to normal when a new government takes power.
The deputy prime minister yesterday said Hun Sen's remarks tarnished his own image.
In an attack on the Thai government on Wednesday, Hun Sen said in a speech at a Phnom Penh ceremony that he was waiting for a new government so relations between the two countries could return to normal.
Mr Suthep said the government would not send an envoy back to Cambodia any time soon even though the Cambodian government stated it would send an ambassador to Bangkok if the Thai government made the first move.
The government has said Thailand would send back its ambassador to Phnom Penh if the Cambodian government overturned the appointment of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic adviser and Cambodia stopped interfering in the Thai judicial process.
The Cambodian leader said in October Thaksin, who fled a two-year jail term over the Ratchadaphisek case, was a victim of Thai politics.
The latest spat between Thailand and Cambodia was the conviction of Sivarak Chutipong, an engineer for Cambodia Air Traffic Services accused of spying. This led to Phnom Penh's decision to expel Kamrob Palawatwichai, the first secretary at the Thai embassy.
Sivarak returned to Thailand on Monday after being pardoned by the Cambodian king. He was assisted in his application for a pardon by the Puea Thai Party and Thaksin.
The opposition party has used the Sivarak issue to attack Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and Mr Kamrob for causing damage to the country.
The House committee on foreign affairs, dominated by Puea Thai, will call on the foreign minister to testify after he failed to appear before the panel on Wednesday because he was on a visit to China. The panel was not satisfied with the Foreign Ministry's decision to send a senior official on Mr Kasit's behalf.
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