Cambodia denies it has freed Thailand legislator

Thursday 30/12/2010
Gulf Times (Doha, Qatar)

Cambodian officials yesterday denied media reports that they had released a Thai legislator who had been arrested earlier that day as he was inspecting a disputed area on the Thai-Cambodian border.

Panich Vikitsreth, a member of the ruling Democrat Party, was among a group of seven people detained by Cambodian troops in a disputed zone in Aranyaprathet district of Sa Keow province, 200km east of Bangkok, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said.

Thai media reports yesterday afternoon said the group had been released. Dy Phen, director of the border relations office in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, said officials were “negotiating” with their Thai counterparts on the case.

“We have not yet released them,” he said.

A senior Cambodian official said the group was being held for “trespassing under immigration law.”

“They intruded into Cambodia,” the official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

Thani said earlier that Thai provincial authorities were coordinating with the local Cambodian authorities to gain Panich’s release. “I don’t think it’s going to turn into a big problem,” he said.

Panich, an assistant to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya before he won a by-election last month, was inspecting the border region after villagers complained that Cambodian soldiers were occupying the area. Also arrested was Veera Somkwamkid, a former leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement - responsible for mass protests and airport blockages in 2008 - who has since formed his own splinter group, PAD spokesman Panthep Puapongpan said.

Veera and other PAD supporters have repeatedly staged protests along the contentious border in recent years, accusing Cambodia of encroaching on Thai territory. Panthep said the arrests were “quite clearly” in Thai territory and called on the Cambodian government to apologise for the incident.

“Cambodia has tried to invade us and hold the territory that belongs to us,” Panthep said.

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia have been tense for more than two years with sporadic clashes between troops over disputed territory near Preah Vihear temple.

The 11th-century Hindu temple sits atop the Dongrak mountain range between Thailand’s Si Sak Ket province and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province.

Both countries claimed sovereignty over the temple in the 1950s, leading them to take the border dispute to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for a resolution.

The court in 1962 ruled in Cambodia’s favour, but failed to adjudicate on the border delineation in the area surrounding the temple.

Thailand continued to claim sovereignty over a 2sqkm area adjacent to the temple, which sparked a fresh border wrangle in July 2009, after UNESCO designated Preah Vihear a World Heritage Site, enhancing its potential as a tourist attraction.