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Thailand, Cambodia recall envoys
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-06 08:37 BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH: Thailand and Cambodia yesterday recalled their ambassadors from each other's countries, a day after Cambodia appointed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra an advisor to the government. Thailand's government, which considers Thaksin a fugitive from justice, first announced that it was withdrawing its ambassador from Phnom Penh. In a tit-for-tat move, the Cambodian government announced in the evening the withdrawal of its ambassador to Thailand.
"The move we took is a response to Thai's recall of its Ambassador to Cambodia," Sok An, a minister in the council of ministers, said at a hastily arranged press conference. "That we appointed Thaksin as our government's advisor is Cambodia's internal affairs and conforms to international practice," he added. The moves are the most severe diplomatic actions thus far in ongoing tensions between the two countries, which have had a series of small, but sometimes deadly, skirmishes over the demarcation of their border. Thailand also said it would review all of its agreements with Cambodia. Thaksin is a divisive figure in Thailand, where his supporters and opponents have repeatedly taken to the streets over the past two years in demonstrations over who has the right to rule the country since Thaksin's ouster in a 2006 military coup. The protests have sometimes turned violent and once shut down the capital's airports for a week. Thaksin has been living mostly in self-imposed exile since the coup, when he was accused of corruption, abuse of power and insulting Thailand's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was convicted in absentia last year of violating a conflict of interest law and sentenced to two years in prison, and his Thai passport has been revoked, forcing him to travel on other countries' passports. Thai officials frequently claim he is trying to undermine the current government. His supporters say the Bangkok-centered elite is ignoring the mandate Thaksin won in two democratic elections because it feels its own privileges are threatened. A Thai government official said yesterday that Prasas Prasasvinitchai would be recalled in retaliation for Cambodia's "interference" in Thai politics. "The reason is that the appointment of Thaksin is considered interfering in our internal politics because Thaksin is still actively involved in politics," Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to Thailand's foreign affairs minister, said. Cambodian state television said on Wednesday night that Thaksin would serve as an advisor on economic affairs to both the government and to Hun Sen personally. It also said Cambodia would refuse to extradite Thaksin to Thailand if asked because Phnom Penh considers him a victim of political persecution, echoing comments Hun Sen made at an Asian summit last month. Thaksin thanks via Twitter Responding to a congratulatory message from a supporter on his Twitter page, Thaksin thanked Hun Sen for the appointment. "I thank His Excellency Hun Sen and I just received a copy which was signed by King Sihamoni. It's an honor. But it's not going to be fun like working to help Thai people out of poverty," Thaksin said AP-AFP-Xinhua (China Daily 11/06/2009 page11) |
