Cambodia finds two Thai nationalists guilty of espionage

Veera Somkwamkid

A Cambodian court has sentenced the remaining two of the group of seven Thai citizens who were arrested for illegally entering Cambodia on 29th December.

The other five, including Democrat Party MP Panich Vikitsreth, were released ten days ago. They were convicted of illegally crossing the border, and were given eight months in prison. Their sentences were, however, suspended, and all five were immediately released.

The two others, Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, were remanded in custody facing additional espionage charges. They were convicted and sentenced by a Phnom Penh municipal court on Tuesday 1st February; Veera receiving eight years in prison and his assistant Ratree, six years. They have one month to appeal against their sentence.

The Bangkok Post reports that the two have planned to appeal, and will stand firm in their assertion that they had been abducted from Thai territory and that the Cambodian court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the case.

Veera is the leader of the Thailand Patriot Network (TPN), a splinter group of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), better known as the 'Yellow Shirts' movement. The PAD have called on the Thai government to take a tougher stance against Cambodia over the boder issue.

PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang said on Wednesday 2nd February that the government must bring the two home within three days or face protest.

"If it fails to do so, PAD will call a mass street rally of yellow-shirts to pressure the government to take responsibility for such a failure,” the retired army general said.

He denied reports, however, that the yellow-shirts were planning to set fire to the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok. He said that TPN protesters would instead march to the Foreign Ministry to demand the removal of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya for not working to secure the release of the two activities.

The Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva called on the PAD to suggest what he should do to help free the two Thais, rather than just make demands. He added that the foreign minister, Kasit, would fly to Phnom Penh on 3rd February to meet with his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong.

Panich, a Bangkok MP, said he felt sorry for Veera and Ratree and that he thought the additional charge of espionage was unjustified because they had no intention to steal anything from Cambodia.

Sources: BBC News, Bangkok Post

For more information on the Thailand-Cambodia dispute, see the Menas Borders website, here.

Five Thais arrested for illegally entering Cambodia released

Panich Vikitsreth is released from jail on Friday 21st January

The ordeal undergone by five of the seven Thai citizens arrested in late December for intruding upon Cambodian territory has ended, as of Friday 21st January. The two others remain in custody, facing additional espionage charges.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced five citizens, including Panich Vikitsreth, a member of the Thai Parliament and ally of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, to eight months in prison for illegally crossing the border. Their sentences were suspended, however, and all five were immediately released, having already spent a month in prison.

They were also fined 1 million Cambodian riel (approximately US$330) each.

Two others remain in Cambodia. People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leader Veera Somkwamkid remains in custody in Phnom Penh on further espionage charges. There have been conflicting reports on his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon; some say she has been granted bail and told to remain in the country, while other reports say she remains in custody.

Panich told the court on Friday that they did not realise they were in a restricted area because all of the signs were in Cambodian. In a press conference on 24th January, after returning to Thailand, Panich reiterated his insistance that his trip to the disputed border region was done out of a 'sincere effort' to help local people overcome their troubles. He said he was in the region to investigate complaints from villages that they could not make use of the land they had long occupied and for which they had land rights documents.

Abhisit made a televised address on the evening of the 23rd to explain the border issue and to insist that the government will not bow to pressure from the PAD, along with their allies in the Thai Patriots Network and the Santi Asoke sect ahead of their planned joint rally this week.

The groups want the government to revoke the memorandum of understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000 governing the two countries' border disputes as they feel it puts Thailand at a disadvantage. They also want the government to force Cambodians from every disputed area and to cancel Thailand's membership with UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.

Sources: Bangkok Post, UPI

For more information on the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, see the Menas Borders website, here.