DPA
Bangkok - A Thai aviation engineer convicted of spying in Cambodia who was set free Monday said on his return to Bangkok that he was victim in a diplomatic spat between Thailand and Cambodia. "I feel like a victim," said Sivarak Chutipong, a Thai national jailed in Preysar Prison since November 12, who was released Monday morning following a royal pardon.
A Cambodian court found Sivarak guilty of spying for passing on the flight details of Thailand's fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to a Thai embassy official last month.
Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Sivarak said the first thing he wanted to do was to contact Kamrob Palwatwichai, the former first secretary of the Thai embassy who asked him for Thaksin's flight details.
"I want to know why Kamrob wanted that information," Sivarak said.
Sivarak a former employee of Thai-owned Cambodia Air Traffic Services at Phnom Penh Airport, was accused of passing on information to Kamrob, although the flight details were already widely known at the time.
Last month, Sivarak was sentenced to seven years jail and fined 3,000 dollars for passing on the information.
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni pardoned Sivarak Friday after receiving requests from Sivarak's mother, members of the Puea Thai opposition party and Thaksin.
Sivarak was arrested during a surprise visit by Thaksin, who was appointed as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government and as a personal adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The news of those appointments riled Bangkok, and relations between the two nations plunged to their lowest point in years. Thaksin faces a jail sentence in Thailand, but Cambodia rejected an extradition request filed by Bangkok during his visit.
In the diplomatic row surrounding the former Thai premier's visit, Cambodia expelled Kamrob and both nations recalled their ambassadors. Neither ambassador has yet returned.
Thaksin returned to Phnom Penh Sunday to interview Sivarak. The former premier, who was ousted by a coup in September 2006, is the main political opponent of the current government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
A Cambodian court found Sivarak guilty of spying for passing on the flight details of Thailand's fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to a Thai embassy official last month.
Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Sivarak said the first thing he wanted to do was to contact Kamrob Palwatwichai, the former first secretary of the Thai embassy who asked him for Thaksin's flight details.
"I want to know why Kamrob wanted that information," Sivarak said.
Sivarak a former employee of Thai-owned Cambodia Air Traffic Services at Phnom Penh Airport, was accused of passing on information to Kamrob, although the flight details were already widely known at the time.
Last month, Sivarak was sentenced to seven years jail and fined 3,000 dollars for passing on the information.
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni pardoned Sivarak Friday after receiving requests from Sivarak's mother, members of the Puea Thai opposition party and Thaksin.
Sivarak was arrested during a surprise visit by Thaksin, who was appointed as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government and as a personal adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The news of those appointments riled Bangkok, and relations between the two nations plunged to their lowest point in years. Thaksin faces a jail sentence in Thailand, but Cambodia rejected an extradition request filed by Bangkok during his visit.
In the diplomatic row surrounding the former Thai premier's visit, Cambodia expelled Kamrob and both nations recalled their ambassadors. Neither ambassador has yet returned.
Thaksin returned to Phnom Penh Sunday to interview Sivarak. The former premier, who was ousted by a coup in September 2006, is the main political opponent of the current government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
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