Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen did not offer fugitive ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra a home in Cambodia, Cambodia’s spokesman Khieu Kanharith.
“He didn’t say that,” Khieu Kanharith said. “Some people have said we would allow Thaksin to have a permanent home in Cambodia – it’s not true.” Who is the boss? On Oct 24, 1:15 pm, [email protected] wrote: > _http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=17057_ > (http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=17057) > > Thailand-Cambodia Dispute Overshadows Summit > ____________________________________ > By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Saturday, October 24, 2009 > ____________________________________ > > CHA-AM, Thailand — An uncharacteristically edgy summit of the Association > of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) threatened to boil over yesterday as > Thai-Cambodian relations took another turn for the worse. > A visibly exasperated Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjjiva hit back at his > Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, calling him “seriously misinformed” over > the latter’s remarks comparing fugitive former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra > with Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. > Hun Sen had earlier offered Thaksin, who was deposed in a 2006 coup, a job > as an economics advisor and said that if the exiled media mogul chose to > come to Cambodia, he would not face extradition to Thailand to face > corruption charges. > “Thaksin can stay in Cambodia as the guest of Cambodia and also be my > guest as my adviser on our economy,” said Hun Sen. > Cambodian Pime Minister Hun Sen at the 15th Association of Southeast > Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Cha-am, Thailand October 24, 2009. (Photo: > Reuters)His remarks comparing the former Thai prime minister with Aung San > Suu Kyi raised many eyebrows among summit delegates, as he attempted to > capitalize on the international media attention on Asean this weekend to > highlight his view that Thaksin’s plight is politically driven. > “Hun Sen’s comments are being seen as an attempt to intervene in Thailand’ > s precarious domestic political situation,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, > the director of the Institute of Security and International Studies > (Thailand) at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. > Last week, Hun Sen gave a pointedly high-profile reception to former Thai > prime minister and Thaksin ally Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyuth. Chavalit said “ > Mr Hun Sen is my old friend and I am visiting him at his invitation.” > Last month, Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy was in Bangkok, where > he addressed the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand on press freedom > in Cambodia. Rainsy slammed the Hun Sen administration, saying that it gives > token assent to freedom of speech but uses state resources to hit critics > with defamation suits, backed by a pro-government judiciary. > Thitinan said he thinks that Hun Sen has taken umbrage at Rainsy using his > time in Thailand to attack the Cambodian government. > Speaking to The Irrawaddy on the sidelines of the Asean summit, Cambodian > opposition MP San Cchay said that Hun Sen’s reaction shows that he does not > understand how a liberal democracy works. > “Just because Sam Rainsy talks in critical terms while in Thailand does > not mean it has anything to do with the Thai government. Hun Sen merely > betrays his own anti-democratic leanings with such an assumption,” he said. > Yesterday, the anti-government and pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy > against Dictatorship (UDD) called on Asean to withdraw support for Abhisit > as the bloc’s chairman. > The UDD is seeking a royal pardon to enable Thaksin return to Thailand > without having to face jail time on corruption charges. The UDD is also > seeking a general election and deems the Abhisit government as illegitimate. > Thaksin is regarded as the most popular yet divisive head of government in > recent Thai history, implementing pro-poor policies and developing the > northeastern Isaan region, but periodically clamping down on media, launching > a draconian war on drugs and seeking a military solution to the southern > Thailand Muslim rebellion. > Interestingly, Hun Sen’s comparison of Thaksin’s situation to that of Suu > Kyi comes as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate marks a total of 14 years in > detention today. She was first arrested in July 1989, ahead of a landslide > electoral victory by her party, the National League for Democracy, in May > 1990. > The comparison was made even as five Asean member states, including > Cambodia, refused to allow NGO representatives other than those handpicked > by the > governments to attend a scheduled “civil society” meeting with regional > heads of government. > Nay Vanda of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association— > selected by the Asean People’s Forum as his country’s representative at the > meeting—said he was disappointed with the outcome. > “Cambodia is supposed to be a democracy that respects the rule of law. I > was chosen via a democratic process, yet the government refused to meet me. > Even Communist, one-party state Vietnam was not afraid to meet the NGO > representative selected by the Asean People’s Forum,” he said. > An hour after that meeting, Asean launched a new human rights body, known > as the Asean Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission, which has no scope > to punish or even draw attention to human rights abuses in Southeast Asia > and includes the Burmese junta among its representatives. > Cambodia has usually backed the Burmese regime when it is faced with > criticism from the international community. > Hun Sen’s comments came just a day before his Thai counterpart hosted a > three-day gathering of sixteen Asian leaders, with the ten-member Asean > grouping having a series of meetings on Friday before being joined by > counterparts from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South > Korea on > Saturday. > The summit aimed to make progress on Asean integration across a number of > sectors. However, Abhisit took Hun Sen’s comments as an attempt to > undermine this, saying “[Asean member states] have no time to pay attention > to a > person who wants to destroy unity.” > This weekend’s summit is a re-run of an April meeting in Pattaya, which > was cancelled after Thaksin’s red-shirted backers clashed with troops and > pro-government protesters. > That melee further blemished tourist-oriented Thailand’s international > image, already sullied after yellow-shirted royalists blockaded Bangkok’s > international airports in late 2008. This time around, 36,000 soldiers and > police were deployed around Cha-am and Hua Hin, 90 minutes south of Bangkok, > to > prevent any attempted repeat by the red shirts. > However, Thaksin’s shadow was cast over this summit, albeit by proxy, with > Hun Sen apparently seeking to needle his Thai counterpart, with whom > relations are already touchy over a long-running border dispute centering on > the > Preah Vihear temple and surrounding land area. > One month ago, 30,000 Thaksin supporters gathered in Bangkok mark the 3rd > anniversary of the military coup that deposed him. The same weekend, > royalist protesters caused mayhem around the Preah Vihear site, tussling with > locals and exhorting the Thai government to take a more assertive stance with > Phnom Penh over the disputed site. > Thitinan told The Irrawaddy: “Thailand and Cambodia have had rocky > relations for a number of years. The reasons are multifaceted, but > underpinning > the divide is the fact that Thailand has somewhat of a superiority complex, > while Cambodia perhaps retains an element of colonial baggage, and now sits > between two much bigger countries in Thailand and Vietnam.” > Giving an insight into the level of acrimony generated by this latest > spat, a press conference given by members of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary > Myanmar (Burma) Caucus on Saturday afternoon discussed how Burma was pushed > down the priority list as a result. > > Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. 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