20/11/2009
BANGKOK - CAMBODIA has taken control of a Thai-operated air traffic control company at the centre of spying allegations, a move set to deepen an ongoing diplomatic row.
The Cambodian government has appointed a senior civil aviation official as temporary caretaker for Cambodia Air Traffic Services (Cats), a wholly owned unit of Thailand's Samart Corporation. All Thai expatriates at the company have been banned from performing their duties, a Samart official said.
The two countries are embroiled in a diplomatic row sparked last month when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen offered former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra a job as an economic adviser.
Thailand last week put all talks and cooperation programmes with Cambodia on hold and tore up an oil and gas exploration deal signed during Thaksin's time in power.
Thaksin, twice elected but deposed in a 2006 military coup and sentenced last year to two years in jail for graft, has been living in self-imposed exile, largely in Dubai. He spent five days in Cambodia last week, infuriating the Thai government.
A 31-year-old Thai engineer for Cats has been accused of sending Thaksin's flight schedule to a Thai diplomat, who has since been expelled. -- REUTERS
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