Thaksin 'has no plan' to go to Cambodia

19/08/2011
Aekarach Sattaburuth
Bangkok Post

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has no plan to visit Cambodia at this time, says his close aide and legal adviser Noppadon Pattama.

Mr Noppadon said Thaksin told him over the phone around 3pm yesterday he would not travel to Cambodia from Friday to Sunday or after his trip to Japan, as reported in the media.

Thaksin is scheduled to visit Japan from Monday to Friday.

Mr Noppadon also denied reports that Thaksin planned to discuss a business deal on petroleum resource development in the overlapping maritime area between Thailand and Cambodia.

Yingluck 'faces many tricky hurdles'

August 1, 2011
By Achara Deboonme
The Nation

The July 3 election turned up with a convincing victory for Pheu Thai, but the party's strategist is convinced the road from now on will be bumpier due to high public expectations amid deep social division.

Still, with confidence that 70 per cent of election promises would be delivered, the strategist who asked for anonymity has convinced himself the party would definitely remain in power for years despite its "dark side" influences.

"The first battle will be on how to prevent Yingluck (Shinawatra, the younger sister of fugitive prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra) from being prime minister," he said, referring to the accusation of perjury and negative rumours on her birth history.

"If she rides through this and becomes prime minister, another battle could be ignited by the border conflict. We start to hear threats that if our troops are withdrawn from the conflict area along the Thai-Cambodian border, protesters will gather around Government House. This is [even if] the withdrawal is an order from The Hague," he said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

He declined to say whether these issues and criticisms over the party's economic policies were slowing the Cabinet lineup. Yet, he believed that whatever the stumbling blocks were, they were not strong enough to derail Pheu Thai.

[Thai] Govt 'slow' in helping detained Thais

5/01/2011
Bangkok Post

The government is doing its job poorly and slowly in helping the seven Thais being held in Cambodia, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's legal adviser Noppadon Pattama said on Wednesday.

"The government should have started helping the seven Thais as soon as they were arrested.

"Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva should have phoneed Prime Minister Hun Sen right away instead of allowing them to be held in Phnom Penh, making assistance more difficult," Mr Noppadon said.

"I want to know if the prime minister has a concrete plan to help the seven people, other than passing the task to the Foreign Ministry," he said.

Mr Noppadon said he had talked with ousted premier Thaksin on the phone yesterday.

Thaksin was aware of the situation and believed Mr Abhisit and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya were capable of helping the arrested men.

"Thaksin said Thai-Cambodian relations have improved and the government should be able to solve the problem," he added.

Bt1m for anyone who prove pact get oil concessions in return

Noppadon Pattama

January 19, 2010
The Nation
THAI-CAMBODIA MOU ON PREAH VIHEAR TEMPLE

Noppadon Pattana, spokesman for ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said he would reward Bt1 million to anyone who can prove that the former leader had traded the memorandum of understanding on Preah Vihear with petroleum concessions from Cambodia.

Noppadon declared this at a press conference organised to respond to allegations from the Democrats that Thaksin was mobilising his red shirts and planning to use Cambodia as a base to apply pressure on the Supreme Court's Office of Political Holders.

"The Democrats are trying to sling mud at Thaksin and his red-shirt supporters," Noppadon said. "If look back in history, someone had shouted [in a theatre] that Pridi [Banomyong, the late statesman], had killed the King [Rama VIII]. That did not make it true"

Noppadon said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and other Democrats had shown up at the yellow shirt rallies, held during the time of Samak Sundarvej's government, to give them support. In fact, some Democrats even made public addresses on the yellow shirts' forum, he added.

A political storm is brewing ahead of the Supreme Court's verdict on Thaksin's Bt76-billion asset case slated for February 26, and the former PM is resorting to all sorts of tactics to regain his assets.

"I would like to stress that Thaksin would do nothing to hurt the country. How long the Democrats manage to remain the government is their business. Thaksin loves this country, and would not resort to any move to apply pressure on the Supreme Court," Noppadon said.

He added that the Democrats alleged that while he was foreign minister, he had signed an MoU with Cambodia on the inscription of Phreah Vihear as a Unesco World Heritage Site in exchange for Thaksin gaining oil concessions in Cambodia. Yet, he added, a year has gone by but nobody has stepped forward with evidence.

He said he was setting aside Bt1 million from his own pocket to give as a reward to anyone who can prove that he had signed the MoU in exchange for oil concessions.

"If this is true, Thaksin will hand the oil concessions over to the person who proves it. That person will also get Bt1 million from me.

Besides, money will also be given to anybody who can prove that Thaksin's assets have been seized by the UK authorities," he said.

Noppadon showed the Bt1 million to the press.

When questioned why Thaksin has not talked the red shirts out of rallying after February 14, Noppadon said their movements had nothing to do with Thaksin, though they both had the same objective - seeking justice.

Noppadon faces uphill task over Preah Vihear

Minister flies to Canada to try to delay the listing of old temple

Sunday July 06, 2008
By Manop Thip-osod & Sanoh Worarak
Bangkok Post

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama yesterday admitted he faced an uphill task in trying to delay Cambodia's bid to get the Preah Vihear temple listed as a new World Heritage site. The minister yesterday left for Quebec, where the World Heritage Committee is holding a meeting with the listing of the temple on the agenda.

Mr Noppadon said before his departure that the Cambodian government had already lobbied many of the 21 committee members, seeking their backing to get the ancient temple listed.

But he promised to do everything he could to oppose and delay the listing by explaining to the committee about the Administrative Court's injunction against the June 17 cabinet approval of the joint communique he signed with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An one day later.

The two put their initials on the joint communique in a meeting with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on May 22.

But it took effect only after cabinet approval and an official signing.

The communique gives Thai support to the Cambodian bid for the listing after the government approved the Cambodian map of the temple boundary, which leaves the disputed area between the two countries untouched.

Mr Noppadon told the court on Thursday that the government only followed the previous administration of former prime minister Surayud Chulanont, which he claimed had already supported the Cambodian bid.

He referred to the committee meeting in Christchurch last year.

But Nitya Pibulsonggram, the foreign minister in Gen Surayud's government, argued yesterday that at the time Thailand made it clear that it opposed a unilateral effort by Cambodia on the issue.

Pongpol Adireksarn, chairman of the Thai World Heritage Committee, confirmed the committee members were well aware of the Thai court ruling.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting in Quebec, he said many members were concerned about the impact of the issue on Thai-Cambodian relations.

The issue is expected to be discussed by the committee late tonight Thailand time.

But with problems on the Thai side, Mr Pongpol said he was hoping the panel would make Preah Vihear the last issue to be thoroughly studied and discussed.

To ensure a better understanding, he had talked with delegates from many countries, including South Korea, Morocco and the United States, who were invited by Cambodia to tour the temple, he said.

Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the court's ruling might be too late as Mr Noppadon had gone so far in binding the country with the joint communique to show Thailand's ''active support'' on the issue.

In Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district opposite the temple, about 250 protesters yesterday gathered at the stairway leading to the ancient ruins to demand the quick eviction of Cambodian souvenir sellers.

They also called for the government to put the temple issue on the national agenda, hold a public hearing on listing the temple as a World Heritage site and for the two countries to work on boundary delineation.

They vowed to hold a big rally should the government make no progress in 30 days.

Thai FM to attend UNESCO meeting

BANGKOK, July 2 (TNA) - Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said Wednesday he would attend the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)'s World Heritage Committee annual session in Canada's Quebec City which began Wednesday and believed that the Phnom Penh government would apply to register the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.

Reiterating that Ministry of Foreign Affairs would strictly adhere to the temporary injunction issued by Thailand's Administrative Court on June 28 suspending the Thai cabinet's endorsement of a Cambodian map of Preah Vihear temple as well as the Thai-Cambodian joint communique, Mr. Noppadon said he and senior officials would leave Bangkok on Saturday and attend the UNESCO meeting in Quebec which ends on July 10.

The Thai cabinet endorsed the Cambodian map on the temple on June 17 while the joint communique was signed by Mr. Noppadon and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An the following day.

Because of the court's injunction, Mr. Noppadon said he could not provide support to Cambodia in its bid to apply for the temple as a World Heritage site.

He said his ministry had officially sent letters stating the Thai government's stance to the Cambodian government, UNESCO, representatives of the World Heritage Committee, the Thai ambassador to Canada and Thai representatives attending the session on Tuesday, informing them of the temporary injunction issued by the Administrative Court.

The Cambodian ambassador to Thailand received a similar letter personally on Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Noppadon said, adding that he hoped the court order would not affect relations between the two neighbouring countries.

The Phnom Penh government is expected to apply for the registration of the ancient temple during the session, Mr. Noppadon said, without elaborating.

Noppadon rejects claims of concession on temple [-Thaksin may benefit from the Preah Vihear negotiation]

May 16, 2008
The Nation (Thailand)

The opposition yesterday grilled Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama over whether the government had made a deal with Phnom Penh on overlapping territories in order to resolve the Preah Vihear temple dispute.

Democrat Sukhumbhand Paribatra quoted Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh as saying in the Cambodia Daily that Thailand had linked negotiations on territorial waters with the disputed temple.

"What the Cambodian minister said contradicts Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who said there is no linkage between the two issues, so why does the ministry not protest to the Cambodians over the allegation?" he said.

Sukhumbhand did not indicate how the two issues were linked.

News commentators have accused the government of trading off land below the temple for an oil and gas concession for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"There is a huge interest in the overlapping area. The Foreign Ministry should handle the case with care, and not allow any private investors to get involved," said Sukhumbhand, a former deputy foreign minister. Noppadon said nobody in his government could exchange the Preah Vihear land for an oil and gas concession in the overlapping maritime area.

Preah Vihear came before the International Court of Justice in 1962. It ruled the temple belonged to Cambodia. The dispute was rekindled last year when Phnom Penh sought listing for the Hindu temple as a world heritage. Thailand opposed the proposal as Cambodia had annexed the surrounding land over which Thailand claims sovereignty.

"Negotiations are still going on and the two sides should be able to reach common ground within two weeks," Noppadon said.

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is in charge of the matter, will dispatch experts to wrap up the issue with Thai officials next week. Preah Vihear and the maritime boundary are completely separate issues and could not be linked, Noppadon said.

Thailand: 26,000-square-km of overlapping (sea?) borders under dispute with Cambodia

Thailand to talk with Cambodia over JDA project

March 9, 2008
The Nation (Thailand)

Foreign Minister Noppadol Pattama said Saturday that the Thai Foreign Ministry and Energy Ministry would negotiate with Cambodian to launch a project of joint development areas.

Noppadol said Thailand and Cambodia have some 26,000 square kilometres of overlapping areas along the border and the areas were rich with natural gas and oil resources.

He said it was estimated that the areas had natural gas worth Bt3.5 trillion and oil worth Bt1.5 trillion so the two country should jointly develop the areas.

He said talks would be held how to divide benefits from the project between the two countries.