Thai Deputy PM Hopes Cambodia Sees Thailand As Friend

06 Jan, 2011
Source: Bernama

BANGKOK, Jan 6 (Bernama) -- Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Thursday that all signals from Cambodia were positive and he believed that the Cambodian government would prioritise friendship and good relations between Bangkok and Phnom Penh regarding the detention of seven Thai nationals on charges of illegal entry into the Cambodian territory after they were apprehended by Cambodian border soldiers last week.

In response to speculations that Veera Somkwamkid, one of the seven Thai detainees, would be additionally charged with espionage against the Cambodian military, Suthep, who oversees national security, suggested that the Thai public stay calm and speak positively of the issue to show their respect to the Cambodian judiciary, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

The Thai deputy premier acknowledged, however, that personally he hopes that the Cambodian court will base its judgment on facts and have mercy for the Thai people who had no ill intention and had approached the border only to look for demarcation posts in response to complaints from local Thai villagers that they could not access to farmlands.

The deputy prime minister said that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he, himself, have already raised facts and official concerns to the Cambodian government and prepared to seek a royal pardon if any judicial punishment was handed out against the seven Thai detainees.

Meanwhile, Commanding General of Thailand's First Army Area Command Lieutenant General Udomdet Sitabutr said that order has been maintained along the Thai-Cambodian border in the eastern Sa Kaeo Province and there has been no reinforcement of Thai troops along the frontier.

The first army area commander acknowledged that he considers the deployment of Cambodian soldiers along the border as normal, and that most local people understood the situation well although public relations and coordination remained necessary there.

Lieutenant General Udomdet said if authorities of both countries respected each other's different opinions, there should not be any problem.

-- BERNAMA