Army chief asserts Thai government, armed forces fully helping Thais jailed in Cambodia

07 Jan, 2011
Source: Mcot. online

BANGKOK, Jan 7 -- Thailand's Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government and the armed forces are not sitting idly by but are giving full attention to helping the seven Thai nationals detained last Wednesday as they inspected theThai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo province adjacent the Cambodian province of Banteay Meanchey.

Gen Prayuth said he did not want to assign blame for the arrest but he believed that if there was a better coordination in advance among the related agencies, including the military, the inspection by the group would have run smoothly without any problem.

He said the government and the military were not inattentive but responded quickly the minute the report of the arrest was received. However, the location of incident was in a remote area so that when the incident was reported to officials, the seven had already been removed from the border area into the interior of Cambodia.

The seven, including Democrat MP for Bangkok Panich Vikitsreth and Thai Patriots Network leader Veera Somkwamkid, were arrested by Cambodian soldiers during their inspection of the border area.

The Cambodian court finished the first hearing on Thursday. They were facing two charges -- one of illegal entry into the Cambodian kingdom, with assigned punishment of three to six months of imprisonment and deportation, while the second charge involved trespass into a Cambodian military area without permission, punishable by a three to six months jail term and Bt7,500-15,000 in fines.

No date has been set for the court verdict.

Gen Prayuth said the case has already entered the Cambodian legal process, and that Thailand must respect and waiting for the court's decision.

He said that evidence is needed to prove whether the Thais had actually entered Cambodian territory. The areas in question are claimed by both sides, and both countries must respect each other as good neighbours, not mistrusting the other.

If the boundary post or any sign showing the boundary disappear, it could be demarcated again with new markers. Restoring boundary markers did not mean giving territory to the neighbouring country.

The army chief affirmed that the armed forces could protect the kingdom's sovereignty along the over 5,000 km border with other countries. (MCOT online news)