Thai MP, Six Others, Appear in Cambodian Court

Thursday, 30 December 2010
Voice of America

A Thai lawmaker and six other people appeared in a Cambodian courtroom Thursday on charges of illegally entering the country despite efforts in Bangkok to head off the action.

Panich Vikitsreth, a member of parliament for Thailand's ruling Democrat party, was arrested Wednesday with his associates while visiting a disputed border area where Thai farmers have complained of intrusions by Cambodian soldiers.

The seven were hustled into the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Thursday morning despite Thai government efforts to arrange a diplomatic solution. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters in Bangkok Thursday that taking the case to court would “complicate the issue.”

Bangkok newspapers reported that Mr. Abhisit met during the morning with top government and military officials, including the defense minister and armed forces supreme commander, to discuss the matter. They say he also dispatched Foreign Minister Hor Namhong to Phnom Penh.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that after the court appearance, the seven Thais would be taken to Prey Sar prison to await trial.

Panich was arrested on the border of southeastern Thailand's Sa Kaeo province and northwestern Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province. The six people with him included a former leader of Thailand's pro-government and pro-military Yellow Shirt movement, the People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD. Veera Somkwamkid now leads a PAD splinter group called the Thailand Patriot Network.

Cambodian and Thai troops clashed in 2008 during a long-running dispute over ownership of an 11th century Hindu temple located on another part of the Cambodia-Thailand border.

U.N. cultural agency UNESCO declared the Preah Vihear temple to be a World Heritage site that year and recognized it as being under Cambodian control.

The countries also feuded when the Cambodian government appointed former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser last year. The Thai military ousted Thaksin in a 2006 coup for alleged corruption. He now lives in exile to avoid prosecution at home.