Pardoned Thais arrive home [from Cambodia]

Si Sa Ket deputy governor Charnna Iam-saeng, second from left, accompanies Sanong Wongcharoen, 37, left, Laen Sapsri, 51, second from right, and Lim Puangphet, 35, from the Chong Sa-ngam immigration checkpoint in Phu Sing district after the three were released by Cambodian authorities and returned to Thailand. SERMPONG THONGSAMRIT

22/12/2010
Bangkok Post

Three Thai villagers who were granted a royal pardon and released from a Cambodian prison have arrived home in Si Sa Ket to a warm welcome from their families and friends.

Sanong Wongcharoen, 37, Lim Puangphet, 39, and Laen Sapsri, 51, were escorted home yesterday by Thai embassy minister counsellor Suwat Kaewsook.

Lam Wongcharoen, Mr Sanong's mother, greeted her son with a hug and tied a white thread around his wrist in a symbolic gesture to encourage good spirits to watch over him.

Mr Sanong said his first meal at home of som tam (spicy papaya salad) and roasted chicken with sticky rice was especially tasty as in jail he had had only rice and vegetables for four months.

The three men entered Thailand via Chong Sa-ngam checkpoint in Si Sa Ket's Phu Sing district. They were briefly interviewed by immigration authorities.

They were arrested in August after straying across the border while hunting and foraging for food in the forest. They were charged and sentenced last week to 18 months in jail for spying.

Their release was confirmed on Monday in a goodwill gesture by Phnom Penh to mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations between Thailand and Cambodia.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday in Phnom Penh that the Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border would reopen to the public after the New Year.

He suggested Thailand should also open its side of the border so people could visit the ancient ruins.

Thai and Cambodian military leaders would together visit soldiers under their command over the New Year in order to show that troops from both countries are still in the disputed area but there is no confrontation, he said.

Hun Sen said troops from the two countries had withdrawn from Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara, which is located near Preah Vihear temple.

Gen Prayuth said on his return to Thai soil that relations between the two countries had strengthened.

Bangkok and Phnom Penh had agreed to cooperate in many areas. More Cambodian troops would be sent to Thailand to study the Thai armed forces, he said.