Cambodia cancels road loan; PM Abhisit calls it a misunderstanding

BANGKOK, Nov 28 (TNA) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Saturday that the Cambodian government misunderstood the Thai government might not extend a Bt1.4 billion loan to finance upgrading a road between the Thai border province of Surin and the Cambodian border province of Siem Reap and had decided to preemptively cancel the loan.

Mr Abhisit told journalists that the decision by the Cambodian government to cancel the loan, approved by his government in August to be used to upgrade the road from Surin to Siem Reap, resulted from a misunderstanding as Cambodia thought that Thailand would terminate the project and informed Bangkok that it had decided to cancel the loan.

There wouldn’t be a problem if both sides have a chance to talk with each other, he said. So far the Thai cabinet has not decided to alter the plan to extend the loan and if talks are held, the problem could be solved.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said in Phnom Penh Friday that his country did not need the loan and could afford to build the road on its own.

Diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries have turned sour after Phnom Penh appointed ousted, fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra economic advisor to the government, followed by a visit by Mr Thaksin and Cambodia’s rejection of a formal request by Thailand to extradite him.

Each country has also recalled their ambassadors while the Cambodian government is detaining Siwarak Chutipong, an employee of Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS), charging him with espionage in acquiring secret information considered to affect Cambodia's national security by releasing Mr. Thaksin’s flight schedule to a Thai embassy official in Phnom Penh.

Mr Siwarak’s mother was able to visit her detained son at a prison in Phnom Penh for the first time on Friday and plans to travel to Cambodia again on December 7 to raise his morale when he appears at a court for the first hearing which is due to start December 8.

His Cambodian lawyer Kao Soupha filed a bail request last Monday but the court has not yet acted on the request. Mr Siwarak has been imprisoned since November 12.

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Mum of jailed 'Thai spy' pleads for him to be freed

PHNOM PENH : The mother of a jailed Thai engineer facing a spying charge has made an emotional appeal to the Cambodian government to free her son from prison.

"I hope the Cambodian government will give justice and mercy to my son. I want him to have freedom as quickly as possible," Simarak na Nakhon Phanom said yesterday, holding back tears.

She made the appeal after a one-hour meeting with her son Sivarak Chutipong at Prey Sar prison on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. It was the first time they had met since the Cambodian Air Traffic Services official was arrested by Cambodian authorities on Nov 12.

Her youngest son Pongsiri Chutipong accompanied her to the meeting.

"We, three people, could not hold back our tears. We cried when we met and hugged together," she said.

Mrs Simarak said her son was still in good spirits and was treated well by prison warders.

"He did not complain about anything in his life at the prison. He only said he's still waiting for his release as quickly as possible," Mrs Simarak quoted her son as saying.

"I beg both the Thai and Cambodian governments to help my son, please," she said, bowed her head, and made a wai.

Mrs Simarak said she was extremely happy and felt relieved to know that her son was still healthy.

Mr Sivarak, who has worked in Phnom Penh for eight years, was charged with supplying classified information on fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's return flight from Phnom Penh to Dubai to a Thai diplomat.

Mr Sivarak and the Foreign Ministry have denied the charge.

Mrs Simarak protested her son's innocence, saying "I believe my son never did this wrong thing nor caused trouble for others."

The Cambodian court will begin the first hearing into Mr Sivarak's case on Dec 8. His Cambodian lawyer Kao Soupha filed a bail request last Monday but the court has yet to make a decision.

Mrs Simarak returned to Bangkok yesterday but will go back to Phnom Penh on Dec 8 to attend the first hearing.

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia have been strained since Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appointed Thaksin as an economic adviser to his government and criticised the Thai judicial system over Thaksin's legal cases.

The two countries have downgraded diplomatic relations. Thailand has also scrapped a memorandum of understanding on attempts to define their overlapping territorial waters and jointly explore gas and oil in the Gulf of Thailand, and has frozen a 1.4 billion baht loan to upgrade a road from Surin province to the Cambodian province of Seam Reap. The termination of the MoU still needs parliamentary approval.

Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday the Cambodian government had told Thailand it was cancelling the loan.

Cambodia did not need the loan and could afford to build the road on its own, he said.

Former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai on Thursday urged the government to start talking with Phnom Penh to get relations back to normal.

But Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya rejected the suggestion yesterday and insisted on the Thai position that attempts to normalise ties must come from Cambodia.

Bangkok Post

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