Phnom Penh proposed swap deal for Veera and Ratree

Cambodia on Thursday refused to free the two Thai activists jailed on spy charges but offered a deal to swap them with Cambodian prisoners jailed in Thailand.

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said Phnom Penh insisted that Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Wiwattanapaibul have to serve a portion of their jail terms as stipulated in the law before being eligible to request for royal pardon.

Surapong was in Phnom Penh Wednesday to hold talks with his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Nam Hong. Top on the agenda was the fate of Veera and Ratree who were arrested along with other Thais on December 28 last year while inspecting a border area.

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Another Cambodian shot dead in Thailand

Another Cambodian illegally logging in Thailand was shot dead on Tuesday, making him at least the fourth to be killed while felling trees in Cambodia’s western neighbour this month alone.

Chi Sophal, deputy chief of the Cambodian-Thai border communication team at O’Smach International Border Crossing in Oddar Meachey province, said 22-year-old Tun Kimsan was shot in the head at about 4pm on Tuesday.

“The deceased’s family is very poor. They do not even have land to do farming, so he took a risk to log, even though the authorities warned the villagers not to enter the forest to log,” he said.

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A Cambodian gets two years in jail

The Kantharalak Court on Tuesday handed down two-year jail terms each to a Thai national, a Cambodian and a Vietnamese after finding them guilty of spying along the Thai-Cambodian border.

The three men are Suchart Muhammad, a 32-year-old Thai Muslim, Cambodian citizen Ung Kimtai, 43, and Nguyen Teng Yang, 37, a Vietnamese national. They were arrested on June 7 in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district while they were driving a pickup truck in an area controlled by the Thai military along the border near the Preah Vihear temple.

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