Thais refuse to return dead Cambodians their soldiers shoot

Thai authorities have refused to give families back the bodies of three Cambodians shot while allegedly logging illegally in Thailand, instead deciding to cremate them, the father of one of the deceased said yesterday.

Police said yesterday three men from Samrong town’s Bansay Reak commune in Oddar Meanchey province were shot one week ago in Thailand.

Chan Try, 62, the father of 32-year-old victim Try Sambo, said when he went to Thailand yesterday to retrieve his dead son, Thai soldiers said they had wanted to burn the body first.

“They showed us the picture of the corpse and I could recognise that my son was killed,” he said. “Thai soldiers said they wanted to burn them in Thailand. We want to take the body for cremation in Cambodia and to hold a funeral ceremony.”

Read More...

Thai soldiers shooting on 11 Cambodians, 1 died

Thai soldiers shot on 11 Cambodians, causing 1 death and 1 injured, while these Cambodians were crossing the border from Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province to work as wood loggers in Tapraya district, Sakaeo province, Thailand.

Vat Han, the Banteay Chhmar commune chief, located in Thmor Puok district, Banteay Meanchey province, reported that Cambodian border defense troops have indicated that Thai soldiers shot on Cambodians in the morning of 07 January.

Vat Han added: “The information indicated that there was a fatal injury: one dead among the 11 villagers, 7 of whom come from my village. They left q from our village, Dangrek village, and they went to border post 27, then they cross the border post to enter Thai territories. The information indicated that they went to log wood in Thailand and the Thai troops surrounded them and shot them.”

Read More...

Cambodia Sends Diplomatic Note to Thailand over Shooting Innocent People

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, Dec 27, 2010-Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Monday said today his government sent a diplomatic note to Thailand over shooting innocent people and making violence on Cambodians. 

“In the note, I used the word “cruel acts” and “not civilized country” because it does not use legal measures to deal cases,” Minister told reporters after the meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister.
The Thai authorities subsequently shot and made violence on Cambodians, who entered Thai soil at the border.

Read More...

Cambodia to probe Thailand over border shootings

Foreign minister Hor Namhong has announced plans to send a diplomatic note to Thailand inquiring about the shooting of two Cambodian loggers by Thai troops last week.

The men, aged 17 and 37, were shot last week in Thailand’s Sisaket province after crossing the border from Oddar Meanchey province’s Trapaing Prasat district. The incident marks the sixth shooting this year in which Cambodian loggers have been killed by Thai security forces, according to local rights group Adhoc.

“Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send a diplomatic note to Thailand about the violent shootings of loggers crossing into Thailand,” Hor Namhong said yesterday.

Read More...

Thai soldiers killed a Cambodian mother and daughter at the border

The bodies of the mother and daughter covered with blood and riddled with bullets.

Two Cambodians, a mother and daughter, have been killed when Thai soldiers indiscriminately shot at a group of 20 Cambodians who tried to cross the border to find work in Thailand on Thursday 30th September.

Read More...

A Cambodian man beaten to death in Thailand

A 29 year-0ld Cambodian man who worked as a bicycle guard at Rong Klua Market opposite Poipet town has died at a Thai hospital after brutally beaten and seriously wounded by a group 7 Thai gangsters.

According to 26 year-old Lam Sim, the wife of the victim, at 9:30 a.m on 26th September, while her husband Vong Sopheak was guarding the bicycles as usual, a group of 7 gangsters attacked him with steel pipes without reasons then escaped, leaving her husband lying in a pool of blood from the head wounds. She said Thai police then took her husband to a hospital in Aranyapret in Sakeo province, but because he was in a critical condition he was then transferred to a hospital in Prachinburi province where he died at 8 a.m on Saturday 2nd of October.

Read More...

Cambodian worker shot in Thailand

The remains of a Cambodian migrant worker believed to have been shot dead in Thailand by his employer were repatriated yesterday, a border official said.

Chim Chamnan, chief of the Cambodia-Thailand Border Relations office in Pailin province, said the victim, 24-year-old Vath Vanna, was shot in the head by his manager on Saturday following a scuffle at a drinking party.

He said the body had then been burned beyond recognition in a bid to destroy the evidence of the killing.

“The corpse has been returned [yesterday] evening, and his relatives picked his body up,” he said. “We have written a complaint and sent it to our superiors to log a lawsuit.”

Read More...

Another Cambodian logger killed by Thai soldiers

Nineteen year-old Meas Ka-On from Tropeang Prasat district in Oddar Meanchey province has been shot dead on 7th December by Thai soldier after allegedly crossing the border to lod on the Thai side of the borders, reports Radio Free Asia.

Mr. Sim Seng, chief of Bak Anlong village, said Meas Ka-On was part of a group of 13 people trying to cross the borders when Thai soldiers started shooting indiscriminately at them and Meas Ka-On was hit and killed on the spot. The other 12 people returned home unharmed. He said the Cambodian authority had contacted the Thai side in which they promised to send the body of Meas Ka-On to his family in Cambodia.

Mr. Meas Hayly, father of the victim, said while he was waiting to receive the body of his son that he is very angry. "(We crossed the borders) because we are poor. He had crossed the borders 2-3 days ago through contacts with his friends and many people from the village had also went. I am very upset, I tell you the truth, if we are allowed to go and retrieve my son's body and if I had the gun I would probably bring the gun with me, I tell me the truth", he said.

Many Cambodians had been killed by Thai soldiers after they attempted to cross the borders. Since September 2009, 4 Cambodians had been killed by Thai soldiers. On 27 November, 19 year-old Sok Samnang was killed near O'Smach while picking wild mushrooms in the border areas. and on 11th September 2009, 16 year-old Yon Rith was allegedly wounded and burned alive by Thai soldiers.

At the same time, 24 Khmer Krom asylum-seekers had just arrived in Cambodia after being arrested and repatriated from Thailand.

The group was waiting for the UNHCR to interview them to determine their status when Thai police arrested them in Bangkok. After arriving in Cambodia, they appealed to the Cambodian authority to offer them political asylum and not send them back home to Vietnam for fearing that they will face persecutions.

By Khmerization

Read More...

Border Killing: Another Cambodian shot dead by Thai solder

A group of young men from a village on the Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province say a Thai soldier shot and killed their friend on Friday after a border patrol caught the youths picking mushrooms on the Thai side of the border. Peng Pek, 25, said he and his six friends crossed into Thailand on Friday to gather mushrooms. As they approached the Cambodian border at a spot near the O’dar river, a Thai soldier fatally shot Sok Samnang, 19. “We are young, poor students who were picking mushrooms to earn money for school,” Peng Pek said. “When we saw the soldiers we ran, and they fired at us three times. When the gunman saw Sok Samnang fall down, he stood there laughing.” Peng Pek said that many of the boys from his village of Aphiwat regularly gather mushrooms across the border, selling them to Thai merchants for 2,000 or 3,000 riels per sack. Oddar Meanchey Governor Pich Sokhin said authorities often warn villagers not to cross the border because of the military presence there, but could not comment on what steps would be taken with the Thai authorities. A funeral was held for Sok Samnang in his village on Sunday.

Phnom Penh Post

Read More...

Thai factory worker kills Cambodian colleague with an axe

Bangkok - A Thai labourer allegedly killed a Cambodian co-worker with an axe early Friday after a heated and inebriated argument over the two countries' deteriorating diplomatic relations, police said.

Thai national Sinchai Namnon, 44, was the chief suspect in the slaying of Cambodian national Dieng, 40, who died shortly after midnight from a gash in the head and a nearly severed arm. Both injuries were inflicted with an axe.

The two men were employees at the Srimaharacha rubber processing company in Sri Racha, Chonburi province, 60 kilometres south-east of Bangkok.

'They were drinking together and got in an argument about the Thai engineer who was arrested on spying charges in Cambodia last week,' Police Lieutenant Colonel Praphan Wangkanom said.

Sinchai had fled the scene by the time police arrived.

'We are still investigating whether there were others involved in the attack,' Praphan told the German Press Agency dpa.

Thai engineer Sivarak Chutipong, an employee of the Cambodian Air Traffic Service (CATS), was arrested in in Phnom Penh on November 11.

The Cambodian government has accused Sivarak of passing on confidential information to the Thai embassy about the arrival of fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on November 10.

Sivarak's arrest was part of an escalating spat between the two neighbouring countries, triggered by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's decision to name Thaksin his personal adviser.

Thaksin, who was toppled in a 2006 coup, faces a two-year jail term in Thailand on an abuse-of-power charge and is the main political antagonist of the current Thai government.

Thailand recalled its ambassador from Phnom Penh following the official announcement of Thaksin's appointment and called for a review of all aid and economic agreements with Cambodia.

Cambodia also recalled its ambassador and expelled Thailand's second secretary on charges of recruiting Sivarak.

The spat is likely to harm both countries' economies.

Cambodia is a major market for Thai exports, while Thailand is a major source of employment for Cambodian labourers.

According to a report released Friday by the International Organization for Migration, some 148,420 Cambodians had obtained permission for 'temporary stay' in Thailand as labourers as of early September.

Another 6,130 Cambodians have been granted work permits, allowing them to work in the country year round.

Cambodians account for about 10 per cent of the one million-plus migrants working legally in Thailand. Thousands more work illegally in the kingdom.

Nov 20, 2009
DPA

Read More...

Cambodia investigates second killing on border

Oct 21, 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian official accused Thai troops of fatally shooting a Cambodian national who tried to cross the border illegally, local media reported Wednesday.

The incident marked the second time in two months that Thai troops have been accused of killing Cambodians along the border in north-western Cambodia.

The Phnom Penh Post newspaper cited the governor of the provincial capital of Oddar Meanchey province as saying the victim, Sim Bun Chhim, 25, was crossing the border with two other men Monday night when Thai soldiers opened fire. The other men escaped, but Sim Bun Chhim was seriously injured and died on his way to hospital.

Thon Nol, the governor of Samrong, condemned the act.

'They crossed the border illegally, but [Thai troops] shot them like animals,' Thon Nol told the newspaper. 'They should have arrested them and sent them back to the Cambodian authorities.'

The Foreign Affairs Ministry was awaiting an report from local authorities before deciding on any course of action, spokesman Koy Kuong said Wednesday.

Last month, a Cambodian teenager was reportedly tied to an ox cart and burned alive by Thai troops after being caught logging illegally in Thailand.

The Thai government had said 16-year-old Yon Rith was already dead from gunshot wounds when troops burned his body.

The ministry spokesman said Phnom Penh had received a note from the Thai government refuting the allegation. Cambodian officials were still investigating the teenager's death.

'The note says that the Thai side agrees to cooperate with Cambodia to bring the offenders to justice but asked Cambodia to provide more evidence,' Koy Koung said. 'I don't know how long that [investigation] will take.'

Cambodia and Thailand have had a tense and long-running dispute over their 804-kilometre-long border. Violence has flared on occasion between troops on both sides, most recently in the area around the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple on Cambodia's northern border.

Read More...

Finally they acknowledged their animal behavior.... Thais say soldiers burned teen post-mortem

Thai military officers have acknowledged their soldiers burned the body of a 16-year-old Cambodian boy suspected of illegal logging, but insist they only did so after he was dead, the deputy chief of the Thailand-Cambodia relations office at the Poipet border crossing said Monday.

Leu Chandara said the officers made the admission during a meeting last week, but Cambodian officials are not buying Thailand’s version of events. “We don’t believe them and we are going to conduct our own investigation,” he said. If the story were true, he added, it would raise questions about the soldiers’ motives for disposing of the body without first consulting the Cambodian government.

“They said they did not burn the teenager alive, but why did they dare to burn his body without informing Cambodian authorities?” he said. “What they are doing is trying to hide their bad actions.”

Officials in Oddar Meanchey province accused Thai officials of shooting Yon Rith and burning him alive on September 11, shortly after he was arrested and accused of illegally felling trees in Thai territory. Relatives claim he was lashed to an ox cart before soldiers set him alight. Marks on the cart prove he was alive at the time, they said.

Another Cambodian teenager, 18-year-old Mao Kleung, was also shot and severely wounded by Thai soldiers, but villagers managed to carry him to safety on Cambodian territory.

Like Leu Chandara, Yon Rith’s parents said the account from Thai military officials was dubious. “They are clearly just trying to hide the fact that their armed forces did a cruel thing,” said Nin Khom, Yon Rith’s mother.

Saing Yon, the father of the dead teenager, said: “I would request that the Cambodian government and international organisations find justice for my son and stop the Thai armed forces from committing cruel crimes against human beings in the future.”

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said he had instructed the Cambodian consulate in Thailand’s Sa Kaew province to investigate the case, but consulate officials were also busy with the case of 16 Cambodians accused of illegal logging along a disputed border area.

The group has been found guilty by a Thai court of illegal entry and destruction of forestry and has been sentenced to up to nine years in prison.

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry said last week it planned to appeal against the sentence.

Officials at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh could not be reached for comment Monday.

Source: Phnom Penh Post

Read More...

Officials say 16-year-old burned alive

Soldiers kill boy caught logging in Thailand, district governor says.

Oddar Meanchey officials Sunday accused Thai soldiers of shooting a Cambodian teenager and burning him alive.

Yon Rith, 16, was killed after Thai armed forces accused him of illegally felling trees, said Thon Nol, governor of Samrong district in Oddar Meanchey province.

Thon Nol said Yon Rith was first arrested and then burned. Another teenager from the same village in Kon Kreal commune, 18-year-old Mao Kleung, was also shot and seriously wounded, he said, but villagers managed to carry him to Cambodian territory, and he is is now in an Oddar Meanchey hospital.

Officials on Sunday denounced the violence as "cruel" acts carried out on unarmed villagers.

"Why did they burn a person alive? [The armed forces] should have arrested them if they did anything wrong in Thailand," said Pich Ratana, a Cabinet official in Oddar Meanchey.

"Our armed forces did not shoot Thai citizens when they were hunting animals in the Cambodian forest. They just arrested them and sent them back, but Thai soldiers do cruel things to innocent Cambodians," Pich Ratana said.

Thon Nol said officials would discuss the incident today.

"We are looking for all measures to assist the victims as well as actions on the Thai authority," Thon Nol said.

Thai Embassy officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Nanh Sovann, a Cambodian military officer who has worked with the Thai military, said Sunday he had heard of the incident but was waiting to see an official report before intervening.

The victim's family recovered his charred body and took it to their village for a funeral the day he was shot, Thon Nol said.

Thai officials have previously taken a heavy hand against Cambodians accused of illegal logging on Thai territory, particularly along the Oddar Meanchey border.

In August, 12 Cambodians were arrested along the border on suspicion of illegally logging.

Their disappearance initially prompted fears they had been killed, but the Thais have since revealed the men are in detention.

Two other men, however, were discovered dead last month. The Thai military said soldiers fired on the group in self-defence.

Read More...