Carton by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Showing posts with label Jupiter Cruise ship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jupiter Cruise ship. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Jupiter Cruise
Carton by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Cambodia lodged a diplomatic protest with Thailand over the Jupiter Cruise incident
Mr. Tharit Charungrat, spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry.Koh Santepheap newspaper
9th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
Cambodia has on the 8th of January summoned the Thai ambassador to protest over the Thai denial of entry to Thailand of 269 Cambodian passengers on board the Jupiter Cruise ship who are holders of diplomatic passports and Thai visas.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported by quoting Mr. Soth Sophin, chairman of the Lam and Bothers company who organised the Jupiter Cruise to Thailand as saying that the Jupiter Cruise ship left Cambodia’s Kompong Som seaport for the Thai seaports of Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket with more than 400 passengers. He added that the Thai authority barred about 269 Cambodian passengers with proper Thai visas from disembarking but allowed all the Chinese and Vietnamese passengers to disembark.
The Cambodia Daily reported that “The majority of the passengers carried Thai visas, but still the Thai authority did not allow them to enter their country (Thailand).”
Mr. Benson Samay, attorney for the Jupiter Cruise, said that most of the passengers who joined the launch of the first leg of the Jupiter Cruise are very angry with the Thai authority for not allowing them entry to Thailand.
He said: “The launch of the cruise has turned into a disaster.” Mr. Benson Samay added that the passengers include senators, military generals, judges and senior government officials who hold diplomatic passports. He added that he believe that the Thai denial of entry for the Cambodian passengers into Thailand was linked to the Preah Vihear disputes.
Mr. Tharit Charungrat, head of information and spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry said through an email that his ministry was unaware of the incident which took place on 25th of December, 2008. He wrote in his email: “ The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs was unaware of the incident which took place on the 25th of December, 2008 or any discriminations by the Thai authority on the Cambodian people.” He added that it seemed that such incident did not happen.
Mr. Tharungrat’s email continued: “As a principle, the Thai immigration authority will facilitate the entry to Thailand without any discriminations against any nationality if they (tourists) have proper visas. Thailand consider Cambodia as our neighbour among other neighbours, so in a normal circumstance there is no reason for us to bar them from entering Thailand.”
Despite his defence of the actions of the Thai authority, Mr. Tharungrat said “However, the Thai authority will launch an investigation if there is a detailed diplomatic protest (from Cambodia).”
On 8th of January, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Thai ambassador to lodge a diplomatic protest over the incident.
Mr. Ung Sean, Secretary of State of Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Thai ambassador that Cambodia is not happy, is regrettable and cannot accept this incident and has demanded that the Thai authority investigate this incident thoroughly. The Thai ambassador did not provide prompt answers by just saying that they will make inquiry with the Thai government first before providing any answers.
Mr. Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Cambodia Daily that his department has investigated and found out that the Thai authority indeed banned the 257 Cambodian passengers who hold Thai visas from entering Thailand. He added that the reasons that the Thai authority banned the Cambodian passengers from entering into their country was because they are afraid that the Cambodians will pose security concerns to their country. He added that the Thai authority demanded the passengers to pay $1500 for the permission to enter Thai territories and this bond money can only be withdrawn after 3 months. So all the passengers refused to pay the bond money and decided to return home to Cambodia.
Mr. Long Visalo added that Cambodia has lodged a complaint regarding Thailand’s violation of the Memorandum of Understanding on a visa agreement between the two countries which stated that diplomatic and official passport holders must be exempted from carrying a visa. Furthermore, under international laws if the embassy of the country had already provided the visas to the tourists, those tourists must be allowed to enter that country without obstacle.
According to Mr. Long Visalo, there are more than 10 senior government officials travelling on board the Jupiter Cruise ship, but until now no one among the more than 10 officials has lodged a complaint to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yet.//
9th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
Cambodia has on the 8th of January summoned the Thai ambassador to protest over the Thai denial of entry to Thailand of 269 Cambodian passengers on board the Jupiter Cruise ship who are holders of diplomatic passports and Thai visas.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported by quoting Mr. Soth Sophin, chairman of the Lam and Bothers company who organised the Jupiter Cruise to Thailand as saying that the Jupiter Cruise ship left Cambodia’s Kompong Som seaport for the Thai seaports of Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket with more than 400 passengers. He added that the Thai authority barred about 269 Cambodian passengers with proper Thai visas from disembarking but allowed all the Chinese and Vietnamese passengers to disembark.
The Cambodia Daily reported that “The majority of the passengers carried Thai visas, but still the Thai authority did not allow them to enter their country (Thailand).”
Mr. Benson Samay, attorney for the Jupiter Cruise, said that most of the passengers who joined the launch of the first leg of the Jupiter Cruise are very angry with the Thai authority for not allowing them entry to Thailand.
He said: “The launch of the cruise has turned into a disaster.” Mr. Benson Samay added that the passengers include senators, military generals, judges and senior government officials who hold diplomatic passports. He added that he believe that the Thai denial of entry for the Cambodian passengers into Thailand was linked to the Preah Vihear disputes.
Mr. Tharit Charungrat, head of information and spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry said through an email that his ministry was unaware of the incident which took place on 25th of December, 2008. He wrote in his email: “ The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs was unaware of the incident which took place on the 25th of December, 2008 or any discriminations by the Thai authority on the Cambodian people.” He added that it seemed that such incident did not happen.
Mr. Tharungrat’s email continued: “As a principle, the Thai immigration authority will facilitate the entry to Thailand without any discriminations against any nationality if they (tourists) have proper visas. Thailand consider Cambodia as our neighbour among other neighbours, so in a normal circumstance there is no reason for us to bar them from entering Thailand.”
Despite his defence of the actions of the Thai authority, Mr. Tharungrat said “However, the Thai authority will launch an investigation if there is a detailed diplomatic protest (from Cambodia).”
On 8th of January, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Thai ambassador to lodge a diplomatic protest over the incident.
Mr. Ung Sean, Secretary of State of Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Thai ambassador that Cambodia is not happy, is regrettable and cannot accept this incident and has demanded that the Thai authority investigate this incident thoroughly. The Thai ambassador did not provide prompt answers by just saying that they will make inquiry with the Thai government first before providing any answers.
Mr. Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Cambodia Daily that his department has investigated and found out that the Thai authority indeed banned the 257 Cambodian passengers who hold Thai visas from entering Thailand. He added that the reasons that the Thai authority banned the Cambodian passengers from entering into their country was because they are afraid that the Cambodians will pose security concerns to their country. He added that the Thai authority demanded the passengers to pay $1500 for the permission to enter Thai territories and this bond money can only be withdrawn after 3 months. So all the passengers refused to pay the bond money and decided to return home to Cambodia.
Mr. Long Visalo added that Cambodia has lodged a complaint regarding Thailand’s violation of the Memorandum of Understanding on a visa agreement between the two countries which stated that diplomatic and official passport holders must be exempted from carrying a visa. Furthermore, under international laws if the embassy of the country had already provided the visas to the tourists, those tourists must be allowed to enter that country without obstacle.
According to Mr. Long Visalo, there are more than 10 senior government officials travelling on board the Jupiter Cruise ship, but until now no one among the more than 10 officials has lodged a complaint to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yet.//
Friday, January 09, 2009
Thai authority denied Cambodian tourists entry to Thailand and demanded them to pay $1500 each
8th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
The 7-storey Jupiter Cruise liner (pictured) with 450 passengers had docked at a Bangkok Seaport on 25th December, 2008 at 10:30am with the hopes that the passengers will be able to celebrate Christmas in the land of Thailand. On the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers but it was the worst nightmare for them that the Thai authority did not allow them to leave the ship and sent them packing back to Cambodia.
On the 4th of December, Jupiter Cruise, as part of its first launch, has left Phu Quoc (Koh Tral) island in Nha Trang province for Kompong Som in Cambodia to go to Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket in Thailand. This is a free cruise and according to Mr. Benson Samay, defence attorney for the cruise, on the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers, among them there were 27 Cambodian passengers who hold diplomatic and government official passports, 22 Cambodians who hold foreign passports and 215 Cambodians who hold ordinary passports with Thai visas stamped on them.
In a letter to Mr. Chheang Vun, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, sent on 6th January, 2009, Mr. Benson Samay said that, according to an English captain of the Jupiter Cruise, the Thai authority did not allow the Cambodian passengers to enter into Thailand by using an excuse that “there might be some Khmer Rouge disguising among the passengers who can create insecurity in their country (Thailand).” The letter added that the Thai authority will only allow the Cambodian passengers to enter Thailand “on the condition that those Cambodian passengers agreed to pay $1500 each person in security bond and the bond money can only be withdrawn after 3 months time.”
Mr. Chheang Vun has told Reaksmey Kampuchea newspaper that he has sent the letter to Mr. Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to summon the Thai officials to explain the incident.
Mr. Chheang Vun added: “if this information is true, it is a regrettable incident”, by adding that he was not aware whether the cruise ship has sufficient documents to enter Thailand or not, Mr. Chheang Vun said that Cambodia and Thailand have a visa agreement, and among the 269 passengers, only 5 passengers who did not have the Thai visas. Mr. Chheang Vun said that according to Mr. Benson Samay, those 5 passengers did not wish to leave the cruise ship to enter the Thai territories. By saying this, Mr. Chheang Vun wanted to stress that there is no reason for the Thai authority to bar the 269 Cambodian passengers from entering Thai territories.
Mr. Benson Samay added that the Thai authority allowed the Vietnamese passengers to disembark the cruise ship to enter Thai territories by transporting the 24 Vietnamese passengers by boat to Bangkok. The Cambodian were not allowed to enter Thailand unless they agreed to pay the $1500 security bond as requested.
Under international regulations, regulated by the International Maritime Organisation (OMI), the regulations for any ships to dock at any international seaports are not linked to the passengers on board of the ships. This means that as long as the passengers on the ship have appropriate visas agreed between the two countries, they must be allowed to enter the country they intended to visit. On the contrary, if the passengers have no proper documentations, when the ship has already docked at any international ports, those passengers can remain on the ship legally because that ship is considered as “a country” as well.
Two days ago an official from the Thai Foreign Ministry told the Thai media that he did not know of the incident and that same official has assured that Thailand will launch an investigation if there is a detailed diplomatic protest from Cambodia.
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
The 7-storey Jupiter Cruise liner (pictured) with 450 passengers had docked at a Bangkok Seaport on 25th December, 2008 at 10:30am with the hopes that the passengers will be able to celebrate Christmas in the land of Thailand. On the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers but it was the worst nightmare for them that the Thai authority did not allow them to leave the ship and sent them packing back to Cambodia.
On the 4th of December, Jupiter Cruise, as part of its first launch, has left Phu Quoc (Koh Tral) island in Nha Trang province for Kompong Som in Cambodia to go to Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket in Thailand. This is a free cruise and according to Mr. Benson Samay, defence attorney for the cruise, on the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers, among them there were 27 Cambodian passengers who hold diplomatic and government official passports, 22 Cambodians who hold foreign passports and 215 Cambodians who hold ordinary passports with Thai visas stamped on them.
In a letter to Mr. Chheang Vun, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, sent on 6th January, 2009, Mr. Benson Samay said that, according to an English captain of the Jupiter Cruise, the Thai authority did not allow the Cambodian passengers to enter into Thailand by using an excuse that “there might be some Khmer Rouge disguising among the passengers who can create insecurity in their country (Thailand).” The letter added that the Thai authority will only allow the Cambodian passengers to enter Thailand “on the condition that those Cambodian passengers agreed to pay $1500 each person in security bond and the bond money can only be withdrawn after 3 months time.”
Mr. Chheang Vun has told Reaksmey Kampuchea newspaper that he has sent the letter to Mr. Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to summon the Thai officials to explain the incident.
Mr. Chheang Vun added: “if this information is true, it is a regrettable incident”, by adding that he was not aware whether the cruise ship has sufficient documents to enter Thailand or not, Mr. Chheang Vun said that Cambodia and Thailand have a visa agreement, and among the 269 passengers, only 5 passengers who did not have the Thai visas. Mr. Chheang Vun said that according to Mr. Benson Samay, those 5 passengers did not wish to leave the cruise ship to enter the Thai territories. By saying this, Mr. Chheang Vun wanted to stress that there is no reason for the Thai authority to bar the 269 Cambodian passengers from entering Thai territories.
Mr. Benson Samay added that the Thai authority allowed the Vietnamese passengers to disembark the cruise ship to enter Thai territories by transporting the 24 Vietnamese passengers by boat to Bangkok. The Cambodian were not allowed to enter Thailand unless they agreed to pay the $1500 security bond as requested.
Under international regulations, regulated by the International Maritime Organisation (OMI), the regulations for any ships to dock at any international seaports are not linked to the passengers on board of the ships. This means that as long as the passengers on the ship have appropriate visas agreed between the two countries, they must be allowed to enter the country they intended to visit. On the contrary, if the passengers have no proper documentations, when the ship has already docked at any international ports, those passengers can remain on the ship legally because that ship is considered as “a country” as well.
Two days ago an official from the Thai Foreign Ministry told the Thai media that he did not know of the incident and that same official has assured that Thailand will launch an investigation if there is a detailed diplomatic protest from Cambodia.
Cambodia protests against Thailand in the “Jupiter Cruise” affair
08 Jan 2009
By Ung Chamroeun
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French
By Ung Chamroeun
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French
269 passengers of the Jupiter Cruise ship linking Sihanoukville and Pattaya were not allowed to enter Thailand on 25 December, in spite of the normal situation.
269 tourists including 257 Cambodian were denied access to Thailand on Christmas Day even though they hold proper visas and passports, the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated on 08 January.
“208 of the passengers held visa issued by the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, 27 held diplomatic or service passports, and 22 held foreign passports,” Long Visalo, the Foreign Affairs secretary of state, indicated during a press conference.
Five of the passengers held passports without visa.
The British skipper of the cruise ship was informed by the Thai authority that his passengers were not authorized to enter Thailand, unless they [each] post a $1,500 bond deposit that they can collect back after three months just in case any of these passengers cause “trouble” in Thailand.
“Thailand violated the Memorandum of Understanding by refusing access of these passengers to its territory. The Cambodians did not try to cross the border illegally. Why did the Thai embassy issued visas to them if it is afraid that these Cambodians would cause trouble?”
Ung Sean, the Foreign Affairs secretary of state, sent a protest memorandum to the Thai embassy.
Among the passengers, there were a Cambodian Senator and Benson Samay, the notary guild president.
The Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs was not informed about this incident until 06 January, and the passengers did not bring any complain.
269 tourists including 257 Cambodian were denied access to Thailand on Christmas Day even though they hold proper visas and passports, the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated on 08 January.
“208 of the passengers held visa issued by the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, 27 held diplomatic or service passports, and 22 held foreign passports,” Long Visalo, the Foreign Affairs secretary of state, indicated during a press conference.
Five of the passengers held passports without visa.
The British skipper of the cruise ship was informed by the Thai authority that his passengers were not authorized to enter Thailand, unless they [each] post a $1,500 bond deposit that they can collect back after three months just in case any of these passengers cause “trouble” in Thailand.
“Thailand violated the Memorandum of Understanding by refusing access of these passengers to its territory. The Cambodians did not try to cross the border illegally. Why did the Thai embassy issued visas to them if it is afraid that these Cambodians would cause trouble?”
Ung Sean, the Foreign Affairs secretary of state, sent a protest memorandum to the Thai embassy.
Among the passengers, there were a Cambodian Senator and Benson Samay, the notary guild president.
The Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs was not informed about this incident until 06 January, and the passengers did not bring any complain.
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