Tim Sakhorn re-ordained in Phnom Penh, then fled to Thailand

15 April 2009
By Moeung Tum
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Novice monk Tim Sakhorn is currently in hiding in Thailand and he is seeking a refugee status to avoid being deported back to Vietnam.

Novice monk Tim Sakhorn informed RFA, slightly ahead of this broadcast, that his decision to flee Cambodia was because of the various signs he saw there that indicated to him that there would be no tolerance for him to live in peace with his relatives and his old father, this in spite of the guarantee provided from the upper level of the Cambodian authority allowing him to live legally in Cambodia.

Novice monk Tim Sakhorn said: “The reason was that there is no safety. I went to ask for an ID at the village level, at the commune and district level, all the way to the abbot of the Kirivong district and the provincial police commission. They said, one after another that the Ministry of Interior confirmed in writing about the issuance of an ID for me. But one level of the authority said that it should be done by another level instead, so I was scared and I cannot endure living in Cambodia. So I traveled to Thailand to look for a safe refuge for myself.”

Novice monk Tim Sakhorn was the former abbot of the Wat Phnom Den pagoda, located in Kirivong district, Takeo province. He was defrocked by force by monks sent by the supreme patriarch (Tep Vong and Non Nget) on 30 June 2007. He was deported by force and put in jail for one year in Vietnam. He was accused of undermining the solidarity between Cambodia and Vietnam.

At the end of last week, Tim Sakhorn was re-ordained again as a novice monk in a pagoda in Phnom Penh. Following this ceremony, on that same day, he fled to Vietnam through the Boeung Trakuon pass in Cambodia: “I was re-ordained on 11 April in Phnom Penh. I cannot tell you the name of the monk who officiated my re-ordainment, nor the names of the witnesses and pagoda. After being re-ordained, I traveled by moto-doup (taxi motorcycle) to Thailand.”

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: A re-ordained Monk, Tim Sakhorn

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Reordained, monk Tim Sakhorn flees: NGO

Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Written by Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

KHMER Krom activist Tim Sakhorn was ordained again as a monk at a pagoda in Battambang on Friday and has now fled to Thailand where he is seeking refugee status, according to Sann Sang, the deputy director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community.

"Now, it is up to the UNHCR [the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] to determine if he has the right to stay in Thailand," he said.

He added that Tim Sakhorn would be willing to leave for another country if necessary.

The 41-year-old monk was arrested in June 2007 by Cambodian police and defrocked before being extradited to Vietnam.

But after imprisoning Tim Sakhorn for a year and then keeping him under house arrest, Vietnam allowed him to visit Cambodia, which issued him a visa until April 17.

Even though Tim Sakhorn has said he just wants to live with his family and tend his farm in Cambodia, he did not feel the Cambodian authorities were protecting him, according to Ang Chanrith, the executive director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Human Rights Organisation.

"When he was arrested, the [Cambodian] government did not take action to protect him, so he has lost confidence in the government," Ang Chanrith said last week.

Christophe Peschoux, the country representative of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, could not confirm that the monk had fled to Thailand.

"If he went to Thailand, it's because he feels unsafe in his own country," Peschoux said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHRISTOPHER SHAY

Tim Sakhorn fled to Thailand, re-ordained as monk

Tim Sakhorn, the former abbot of Phnom Den North pagoda (Photo: Mundulkeo, RFA)

Tim Sakhorn escaped to Thailand

Monday, 13 April 2009
Original article by Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

KI-Media Note: The original article in Khmer was posted on RFA earlier today, but somehow it has disappeared from RFA website as of now.

Tim Sakhorn, ex-abbot of Phnom Den pagoda who was jailed by Vietnam for more than a year, has escaped to Thailand while on permission to visit relatives in Cambodia, reports Radio Free Asia.

According to the RFA report, Tim Sakhorn, with the help of local NGOs, had escaped to Thailand on Friday 10th April, 2009 and had immediately been re-ordained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand.

Tim Sakhorn was arrested more than a year ago and secretly handed to Vietnamese authority on charges of involving in subversive activities against Vietnam who then convicted and sentenced him to long jail term. He was released recently after international outcry, but was prevented from returning to Cambodia. But as a goodwill gesture, the Vietnamese authority gave him permission to visit relatives for 14 days during the Khmer New Year, says RFA.

Tim Sakhorn told RFA that he wishes to reside in Cambodia permanently, but since Cambodian authority denied him a residency status, he decided to escape to Thailand. He said: "I have just arrived at a third country (Thailand). I wish to appeal to local as well as international organisations around the world to help me escape from threats, from mental tortures and from imprisonments."