Thai national arrested for espionage

A Thai national has been arrested and accused of espionage for allegedly stealing the flight schedule of fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, amid an ongoing row between Thailand and Cambodia over Thaksin’s appointment as government economics adviser, Phnom Penh police and court officials said.

Sok Phal, director of the Ministry of Interior’s Central Security Department, said 31-year-old Siwarak Chotipong, an employee at Cambodia Air Traffic Services Co., was arrested by officers from the Central Security Department at his office on Wednesday.

“He stole the special flight schedule of Mr. Thaksin and handed it to the first secretary of Thai Embassy,” Sok Phal said. “It is not his duty to do so. What he did was beyond his responsibility. He must face legal action.”

On Thursday, the Cambodian government expelled the first secretary at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, with Thailand responding in kind.

Cambodia Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong would not confirm whether the expulsion was related to the airport case.

“It’s a case of the court. It’s the court’s affair,” he said, adding that the Thai first secretary had “performed his role contrary to his position.”

Sok Phal, however, said the first secretary was directly involved and had been expelled as a result.

"He ordered the man to copy the schedule of Thaksin's return flight, and that's why he was expelled," Sok Phal said.

In Bangkok, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya forcefully rejected the espionage accusations.

"It's not true. It is a malicious and false claim," Kasit said. "Thaksin feels he must destroy Thailand and collaborate with Hun Sen."

Thaksin was deposed in a 2006 coup and self-exiled last year to avoid a jail term for corruption charges. Last week, Cambodia announced Thaksin’s official appointment as government economics adviser, prompting Thailand to withdraw its ambassador to Phnom Penh and Cambodia to reciprocate.

Phnom Penh court deputy prosecutor Sok Roeun said Sivarak is now in pre-trial detention at Prey Sar prison and is being charged under article 19 of the 2005 Law on Archives, which covers offenses related to matters of national defence, security or public order. If convicted, Sivarak faces a jail term of between seven and 15 years and a fine of between 5 and 25 million riels (US$1198-5990).
Police are now investigating whether more people were involved with the plot, Sok Phal said.

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angkor wat temple

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temple

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road to bayon temple

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angkor temple

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style angkor wat

Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture—the Angkor Wat style—to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main building material. Most of the visible areas are of sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The binding agent used to join the blocks is yet to be identified, although natural resins or slaked lime have been suggested.

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Angkor Wat lies 5.5 km

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 km north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred on the Baphuon. It is in an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.

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Cambodia rejects Thai request to arrest ex-premier

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP): Cambodia has turned down a request from Thailand to arrest former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who last year was sentenced in absentia by a Thai court to two years imprisonment for violating a conflict of interest law.
A statement from Cambodia's Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday said the request to detain Thaksin for extradition would not be honored because the legal case against him was politically motivated, and therefore not covered by the countries' extradition treaty.
Thaksin lives in self-imposed exile. He is visiting Cambodia to give a lecture after his appointment last week as an adviser on economic affairs to the Phnom Penh government. His appointment has strained relations between Cambodia and Thailand.

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Thaksin Roaming fugitive tycoon

BANGKOK, Nov 11 - Thailand's ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra continues to fan the flames of political and social turmoil at home while he roams the world in exile to escape a prison term for corruption.

His latest move, provoking his foes in the Thai government by visiting neighbouring Cambodia this week to take up an economic advisory role, has provoked a diplomatic row between the bickering nations.

It caps a year of manoeuvres by the former policeman turned telecoms mogul turned politician aimed at returning home in triumph more than three years after he was toppled in a military coup.

But despite his enduring popularity in many parts of Thai society, analysts said he risks losing support if he throws in his lot with a country that Thailand has fought deadly skirmishes with in the past year.

"He is carrying on his crusade but using Thailand's national dignity as a pawn and even his supporters might think twice about that," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

Thaksin, 60, turned fugitive in August 2008 when he failed to return from the Olympic Games in Beijing ahead of court rulings that froze his assets and gave him a two-year jail term over the illegal sale of shares in his company.

He had only returned to Thailand a few months earlier after nearly two years abroad following the September 2006 coup.

Since last year, Thaksin has divorced his wife and collected new passports, including from Nicaragua and Montenegro, while globetrotting to pursue business interests including mines in Africa and consultancy roles.

Early this year the government of Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva unsuccessfully attempted to extradite Thaksin during a visit to Hong Kong. The former premier said he had been living mostly in Dubai.

But wherever he has roamed, Thaksin has never seemed far from Thailand's political fray, rousing his "Red Shirt" protesters to stage huge protests and recently opening a Twitter account.

The Red Shirts forced the early closure of a meeting of regional leaders in April, leading to deadly riots in Bangkok streets that were only quelled with the threat of a military crackdown.

Demonstrations by his opponents have proven equally unruly, with the rival "Yellow Shirts" besieging Bangkok's airports in November-December 2009 in a bid to force Thaksin's allies from power.

The rival protests further highlighted the rifts between rich and poor in Thai society, upon which Thaksin partly capitalised to become the country's only twice-elected premier.

His reputation as a corrupt authoritarian leader made him a hated figure among Thailand's established elites but meant little to the majority of the rural poor, who continue to view him as a hero.

Thaksin was born on July 26, 1949, into one of the most prominent ethnic Chinese families in northern Chiang Mai province.

He joined the police force in 1973 but soon turned his hand to small business and then founded what would later become telecoms giant Shin Corp.

He sealed his reputation as a skilled businessman with the purchase of Manchester City football club, which he finally sold last year following the Thai courts' seizure of his fortune.

In 1998 he moved into politics when he formed his own political party, Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais), seducing voters with his business savvy and populist policies including cheap healthcare and microcredit schemes.

But his habit of installing relatives in key posts angered opponents, while a 2003 "war on drugs" outraged rights activists who said more than 2,200 people died in extrajudicial killings.

Thaksin's personal profit in office gave his enemies a cause to rally around, leading to mass "Yellow Shirt" protests and the 2006 coup, but he continues to loom large over Thai society.

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Reunion of the "eternal friends" ... after their one night of separation

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) hugs fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra upon Thaksin's arrival for an interview at Hun Sen's residence in Kamdal province, near the outskirts of Phnom Penh November 11, 2009. Cambodia refused a request from Thailand on Wednesday to extradite Thaksin, in a widening diplomatic row that threatens to worsen Thailand's political crisis. Cambodia's Foreign Ministry handed over a statement refusing to extradite the billionaire, ousted in a 2006 coup and later sentenced to two years in prison for graft, just seconds after officials from the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh submitted the request. REUTERS/Stringer
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) shakes hands with fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra at Hun Sen's residence in Kamdal province, near the outskirts of Phnom Penh November 11, 2009. Cambodia refused a request from Thailand on Wednesday to extradite Thaksin, in a widening diplomatic row that threatens to worsen Thailand's political crisis. Cambodia's Foreign Ministry handed over a statement refusing to extradite the billionaire, ousted in a 2006 coup and later sentenced to two years in prison for graft, just seconds after officials from the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh submitted the request. REUTERS/Stringer
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) meets with fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra for an interview at Hun Sen's residence in Kamdal province, near the outskirts of Phnom Penh November 11, 2009. Cambodia refused a request from Thailand on Wednesday to extradite Thaksin, in a widening diplomatic row that threatens to worsen Thailand's political crisis. Cambodia's Foreign Ministry handed over a statement refusing to extradite the billionaire, ousted in a 2006 coup and later sentenced to two years in prison for graft, just seconds after officials from the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh submitted the request. REUTERS/Stringer
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) sits beside fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra for an interview at Hun Sen's residence in Kamdal province, near the outskirts of Phnom Penh November 11, 2009. Cambodia refused a request from Thailand on Wednesday to extradite Thaksin, in a widening diplomatic row that threatens to worsen Thailand's political crisis. Cambodia's Foreign Ministry handed over a statement refusing to extradite the billionaire, ousted in a 2006 coup and later sentenced to two years in prison for graft, just seconds after officials from the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh submitted the request. REUTERS/Stringer

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Hun Xen's "eternal friend" set foot on Cambodia

A body guard for Cambodia Prime minister Hun Sen keeps watch at a military air base in Phnom Penh November 10, 2009. Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok. The former telecoms billionaire is in self-imposed exile after being toppled by the military in 2006 and then later found guilty on a conflict of interest charge. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made Thaksin an economic adviser to his government and offered him a home in his country. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (L) arrives by plane in Phnom Penh November 10, 2009. Thaksin who is wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok. The former telecoms billionaire is in self-imposed exile after being toppled by the military in 2006 and then later found guilty on a conflict of interest charge. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made Thaksin an economic adviser to his government and offered him a home in his country. REUTERS/Stringer
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is greeted upon his arrival at a military air base in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. Cambodia announced that Thailand's fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived Tuesday in Phnom Penh following his appointment as economic adviser to the government, fueling tensions between the neighboring countries. (AP Photo)
Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (L) arrives by plane in Phnom Penh November 10, 2009. Thaksin who is wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok. The former telecoms billionaire is in self-imposed exile after being toppled by the military in 2006 and then later found guilty on a conflict of interest charge. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made Thaksin an economic adviser to his government and offered him a home in his country. REUTERS/Stringer
Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra prepares to enter a car at a military air base in Phnom Penh November 10, 2009. Thaksin who is wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok. The former telecoms billionaire is in self-imposed exile after being toppled by the military in 2006 and then later found guilty on a conflict of interest charge. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made Thaksin an economic adviser to his government and offered him a home in his country. REUTERS/Stringer

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Rubbing salt on Thailand's wound?

Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (R) speaks with Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen during their meeting in Phnom Penh November 10, 2009. Thaksin, wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok. Sen has made Thaksin an economic adviser to his government and offered him a home in his country. Thaksin is set to brief more than 300 Cambodian economic experts at the Ministry of Economy and Finance on November 12 in the capital. REUTERS/Stringer
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (left) greets former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra in Phnom Penh. Thaksin has arrived in Cambodia to start work as a government economic adviser, fuelling tensions between the two countries after a series of border clashes.(AFP/PM Office/File/Prime Minister Office)
Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (front 2nd R), former Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat (front R) and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (front C) pose with Hun Sen's extended family during their meeting at the latter's house in Phnom Penh November 10, 2009. Thaksin, wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok. Hun Sen has made Thaksin an economic adviser to his government and offered him a home in his country. Thaksin is set to brief more than 300 Cambodian economic experts at the Ministry of Economy and Finance on November 12 in the capital. Hun Sen's family includes (back R-L) Hun Sen's daughter-in-law Chay Lin, Hun Sen's son-in-law Dy Vichea and his wife Hun Mana, Hun Sen's son Hun Manet and his wife (unidentified), Hun Sen's son-in-law Sok Puthivuth and his wife Hun Maly and Hun Sen's son Hun Manith and his wife (unidentified). (Front L-R) Somchai's wife Yaowapa Wongsawasdi and Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany. REUTERS/Stringer
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, second right from the front row, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, center, pose for photographs with other members of Hun Sen's family in his residence in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. Thailand's fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin arrived Tuesday in Phnom Penh following his appointment as economic adviser to the government, fueling tensions between the neighboring countries. (AP Photo/Lim Cheavutha)

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Cadres face prospect of more arrests

'Sometimes [my children] ask me, “Who is the Khmer Rouge? Who did all this killing?” And when they do that, I clap my hands on my chest and say, “It’s me.”'
Meas Muth, former Khmer Rouge military division chairman, speaks at his expansive home in Samlot, Battambang. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)I have said again and again that I do not want to go to that court.'
Former Khmer Rouge Northwest Zone district chief Im Chem. (Photo by: Robbie Corey-Boulet)

Former Khmer Rouge describe complex attachment to regime and its legacy.

Oddar Meanchey and Battambang Provinces - At the age of 14, Out Moeun left her family home in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province, to work for Khmer Rouge Central Committee member Chhit Choeun, alias Ta Mok.'

Though it was 1987, a full eight years after the regime fell from power, units of Khmer Rouge soldiers were still scattered throughout Cambodia, and she was one of many girls recruited to supply them with weapons. Every two weeks or so, she and seven other girls would rise before dawn and begin travelling, mostly on foot, to provinces as far afield as Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang. They each carried a case of AK-47s on their backs, along with one package containing food, clothing and a hammock.

Government and Vietnamese soldiers, from whom the girls had been instructed to hide, routinely accosted them. “I shot at those enemy troops more times than I know how to count,” Out Moeun, now 36, recalled in an interview at her roadside grocery stall less than a kilometre from Ta Mok’s old house. She was hit only once in those exchanges, sustaining a bullet wound she showed off readily: a deep purple scar on the right side of her belly.

Like many former cadres in Anlong Veng, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, Out Moeun still speaks admiringly of the movement’s leaders, particularly Ta Mok, whom she described as “a good leader” and “a better man than Pol Pot”. She shed tears when discussing his arrest in 1999 and his 2006 death in pretrial detention at the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

This allegiance, however, has not translated into resentment towards the tribunal itself, which she credited with operating “according to the law”. Asked if she was concerned about international prosecutors’ ongoing push for more investigations, she said she was far too busy supporting her family to pay much attention to the tribunal and its work.

She added: “I don’t care about the court arresting more people, because the people they would arrest are not related to those of us at the lower levels. We don’t care.”

The question of how former cadres might respond to more arrests assumed greater urgency after the tribunal announced in September that it had opened the door to investigations beyond those of the five leaders currently detained. That decision overrode objections raised by national co-prosecutor Chea Leang, who had argued that, as a result of additional prosecutions, “ex-members and those who have allegiance to Khmer Rouge leaders may commit violent acts”. Five days after the announcement, Prime Minister Hun Sen echoed this warning in a speech, saying, “If you want a tribunal, but you don’t want to consider peace and reconciliation and war breaks out again, killing 200,000 or 300,000 people, who will be responsible?”

Contrary to these statements, interviews with former cadres in Anlong Veng and Samlot, another former stronghold in Battambang province, suggested a more complicated attachment to the regime and its legacy, one that would seem to preclude outright violence in response to an expanded dragnet. Like Out Moeun, most former cadres disavowed any personal stake in the fate of former regime leaders, though they also took obvious pride in the power those leaders once wielded – and in their own small contributions in support of that power.

San Roeun, a 56-year-old former soldier who now sells tickets to Ta Mok’s house, which has been transformed into a government-run tourism site, expressed concern about how more arrests might affect “the political situation”. But he ruled out the prospect of civil war, emphasising that he and others like him had little interest in the welfare of those who might be arrested.

“The reason I joined the Khmer Rouge was because I wanted to help King Sihanouk,” he said. “I never knew about Pol Pot. We wanted to fight Lon Nol.”

Reminiscing on his years in combat, he spoke at length of his performance on the battlefield, describing his ability not only to survive but to continue killing government troops during the 1980s.

“My son and daughter, they are in school now, and they are reading about the history of the Khmer Rouge killings,” he said, sitting in the booth from which he sells 50 tickets on a typical day. “Sometimes they ask me, ‘Who is the Khmer Rouge? Who did all this killing?’ And when they do that, I clap my hands on my chest and say, ‘It’s me. Your father is the Khmer Rouge.’”

Former military chairman speaks out

Among the few cadres who claimed that more arrests could in fact lead to civil war were Meas Muth, a former Khmer Rouge military division chairman, and Im Chem, a former Khmer Rouge district chief, who have been named by scholars and in the media, respectively, as possible suspects.

In an interview at his Samlot home, Meas Muth, who was listed as a possible suspect in a 2001 report by historian Stephen Heder and war crimes lawyer Brian Tittemore, said Hun Sen’s prediction of “200,000 or 300,000” deaths was sound.

“Hun Sen knows everything about his country, and he was thinking about its future. There could be civil war,” said the former secretary of Central Committee Division 164, which incorporated the Khmer Rouge navy. He added that his “supporters” would likely take part in the unrest, and that he had supporters “everywhere in Kampuchea”.

In their report, titled “Seven Candidates for Prosecution: Accountability for the Crimes of the Khmer Rouge”, Heder and Tittemore point to “compelling evidence” suggesting that Meas Muth was responsible for the execution of cadres under his command. That evidence includes 24 Tuol Sleng confessions signed by prisoners from his division.

Though Meas Muth denies having been informed of Khmer Rouge arrest, interrogation and execution policies, the report includes accounts of meetings during which they were apparently discussed. At a General Staff meeting he attended in 1976, for instance, Son Sen, the defence minister, instructed those present to “have an absolute standpoint about purging counterrevolutionary elements; don’t be half-baked”. The following month, Son Sen said at a similar meeting that the party should do “whatever needs to be done to make our army clean”. At that meeting, according to the report, Meas Muth said, “On this I would like to be in total agreement and unity with the party. Do whatever needs to be done not to allow the situation to get out of hand” and to prevent the strengthening of “no-good elements or enemies”.

Along with an overview of the evidence and its implications, the report includes a thumbnail sketch of a young Meas Muth, a broad-shouldered man in a plaid shirt with full, closed lips and a thick head of brown hair. For the interview in Samlot, the former commander, now 73, wore a light blue button-up half-sleeve shirt over a tank top. His lips, when opened, revealed stained, jagged teeth, and his considerably thinner hair had whitened.

As he talked, he smoked tobacco wrapped in tree leaves and spat into a dark blue pail that rested beside his chair. The shade of the pail matched exactly the stones embedded in the patterned tiles that covered the floor, one of the more eye-catching features of his sprawling home, which comprises three buildings and is surrounded by a 5-hectare orchard of coconut, mango and jackfruit trees. Another highlight is the staircase of the main building, an imposing spiral made of polished beng wood.

Completed in 2006, the house stands in marked contrast with the more modest, though comfortable, stilt constructions nearby, and has become a frequent gathering place for Meas Muth’s neighbours, many of whom are relatives, supporters or soldiers who fought under him. On the afternoon of the interview, neighbours stopped by periodically to discuss plans for the next day’s Kathen festival celebration to be held at the nearby Ta Sanh Chas pagoda, the construction of which Meas Muth has largely funded.

One family brought a guest who had never before been to the house. Upon entering, she complimented Meas Muth on the stones in the floor. Meas Muth looked down and said: “These stones, these are just simple stones. They are not high-quality.” The guest then walked to the staircase, put her arm on the banister and marvelled at the sheen of the wood. Meas Muth replied, “That’s made out of just simple wood. It is not a rare quality. It is just normal wood. Maybe you could find it anywhere.”

After 10 minutes of small-talk, the family left, and Meas Muth answered questions about the allegations laid out in the Heder and Tittemore report.

“Yes, I remember that man,” he said, referring to Heder, the principal author. “He spoke Khmer fluently, and then he just wrote blah blah. It wasn’t true. He just wrote what he heard, not what he saw.”

He said that, contrary to the report, he spent the regime years as a “simple leader” supervising workers in the Battambang rice fields.

“I had never heard about S-21, because I was not in Phnom Penh. I was here, in Samlot, so I just knew everything around me,” he said.

He acknowledged having attended the meetings mentioned in the report, including a General Staff meeting in September 1976 at which Tuol Sleng was represented by its third-ranking cadre. But he said he did not remember what was discussed. “I can’t remember because it’s been over 30 years already,” he said.

He said he would not be surprised if the court came to arrest him, though he argued that this would be a waste of everyone’s time, in no small part because, unlike Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, he would resist cooperating with any attempt to prosecute him. Not for him, apparently, the teary confessions, the claims of responsibility or the pleas for forgiveness that were the hallmarks of the Duch hearings.

“Duch is crazy, because he wants the tribunal to be the end of his life,” Meas Muth said. “For me, I will not cooperate. I want to have a life, like all other people.”

‘We must follow the leader’

Like Meas Muth, former Khmer Rouge district chief Im Chem, who in September was reported to be a suspect by the French newspaper Le Monde, said the threat of unrest was real.

In an interview at her home in Anlong Veng, where she lives with her husband and one of her two daughters, she said attempts to uncover the truth about old conflicts would inevitably give rise to new ones.

“If you want to recover it, it will become new,” she said. “People will go to protest in Phnom Penh to demand that the prime minister doesn’t arrest more people, because he said he wouldn’t. And if he allows it to happen anyway, civil war will happen again.”

The Northwest Zone district Im Chem headed, Preah Net Preah, was home to Trapaing Thmar Dam, the regime’s biggest irrigation project.

“Thousands and thousands of people were sent there to dig this water basin, which is even bigger than the baray at Angkor Wat,” Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), said in an email. Notorious for its brutal working conditions, the dam was included in a list of work sites falling under the scope of the investigation for the court’s second case that was made public last week. DC-Cam’s 2007 annual report describes Im Chem as “one of the overseers of the [dam’s] construction”.

Im Chem, now 67, repeated her claim that the dam was completed by the time she was transferred to Preah Net Preah, and she added that, as district chief, she had the authority only “to encourage people to work in the rice fields”.

Several former cadres and experts said Im Chem was too far down the chain of command to be a likely candidate for prosecution. “If she is one of the suspects, then the gates are wide open, since there are a number of former Khmer Rouge on her level who are still alive,” said Alex Hinton, author of Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide.

For her part, Im Chem said she survived the regime by following Ta Mok from her native Takeo province to the northwest, adding that any crimes she might have committed were the result of having obeyed his orders. “We live in a society where we must follow the leader,” she said.

She denied being concerned about talk of more arrests, though she, too, said she would not cooperate with an investigation.

If the court were to detain her, she asked that she at least receive advanced notice. “If they want to take me to the court, they should alert me first, because sometimes I take naps, and it would take me by surprise if I were sleeping,” she said. “Plus, I have said again and again that I do not want to go to that court.”

‘Finish the job’

Though Meas Muth and Im Chem were largely alone in their descriptions of the threat of civil war, many low-level cadres shared their view that more arrests would do more harm than good, citing concerns that any resulting tension, even if it didn’t lead to violence, could compromise efforts to promote national reconciliation and economic development.

Those residents of Anlong Veng and Samlot who have no ties to the regime, however, for the most part encouraged the court to continue its pursuit of former leaders.

“The prime minister says he will not allow the court to arrest anyone else, but I don’t care,” said Long Thy, 49, who moved to Anlong Veng in 1999. “I want to see justice. If they can investigate even just one more leader, they should do it. It’s up to the court.”

Mao Sovannara, 41, a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldier who has been posted in Samlot since 2005, said it was the government’s responsibility to remedy any problems resulting from more arrests, not to air its views on whether they should be carried out in the first place.

In 1975, at the age of 7, the Battambang native was taken from his home and sent to a cooperative in Banteay Meanchey, a move that separated him from his parents, his brother and his sister. The conditions in the rice fields, he said, were “like torture”, and he never saw his parents and brother again.

Speaking outside the grocery stall they run in the Samlot market, both he and his sister, Mao Ravin, said they had gotten to know Meas Muth since moving there, and that they had no problem with him personally. “I do not discriminate against him,” Mao Ravin said. “He’s a good man now.”

But Mao Sovannara said his relationships with Meas Muth and other cadres had not altered his belief that the tribunal was necessary. “I’ve waited over 30 years to see justice, so the tribunal should be allowed to do its work,” he said. “The young generation will get important knowledge, and also a lesson: When you start something, you don’t stop in the middle. You finish the job.”

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Thailand to submit Thaksin's extradition request Wednesday

Thai Embassy to Phnom Penh will submit extradition request for Cambodia to extradite Thaksin Shinawatra on Wednesday, an official said Tuesday.

The Thai Attorney General Office signed the official request and foward the document through the foreign ministry late Tuesday, a few hours after Thaksin landed in Phnom Penh to perform his job as an adivsor to Cambodian government.

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'Times' website distorted: Thaksin

"With his popularity already plunging amid Thailand's diplomatic stand-off with Cambodia, which has offered him asylum and appointed him economic adviser, Thaksin found himself on the defensive again after the Times Online published his remarks on the issue of royal succession. The Times Online report was circulated like wildfire on the Web, prompting fiery criticism and catching the Pheu Thai Party off guard.

In an urgent statement, Thaksin strongly denied calling for a reform of the monarchy or suggesting the institution's shining era was still to come as Times Online I condemn Times Online for reporting lies and causing confusion over the matter. I want everyone to know I and my family are loyal to Their Majesties and are ready to sacrifice our lives for them," he said.

The full script of the interview was available on the Times Online website. It began with Thaksin making the generally known claims about being persecuted by "elites" close to the Royal Palace. He started making comments on royal affairs, such as the petition submitted by his supporters, Her Majesty the Queen attending the funeral of a yellow-shirt activist and royal succession only after being asked by the interviewer.

It was arguably Thaksin's most extensive public comments on royal affairs.

Although he stressed his loyalty to the monarchy and its importance to Thai society, he did strongly attack inner Palace circles and blamed their "jealousy" for his political downfall.

While he said His Majesty the King, or his successor, was the only person who could bring the Thai crisis to a close, Thaksin said he did not trust the Privy Council, which he claimed had become much too involved in the conflict to be a mediator.

A transcript showed Thaksin said: "The constitutional monarchy must be strictly abided by."

However, he said "Yes, yes" to the interviewer's question of whether a reform was needed, apparently to shore up the royal inner circles.

In his statement, Thaksin said the Times Online article was a total lie that had caused confusion, adding he had told the journalist, Richard Parry, several times the monarchy was a very sensitive issue and that the report should be as accurate as possible.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he found the Times Online article to contain many "inappropriate" parts that both Thaksin and the news website needed to clarify.

He added that government legal officials were taking a close look at the transcript, although the prime minister declined comment on whether legal action would be taken against Thaksin.

This new controversy could complicate Thaksin's plan to visit Phnom Penh this week to address Cambodian businessmen at the invitation of premier Hun Sen. In his interview, Thaksin all but ruled out exile in Cambodia, saying digital technology would allow him to help from outside the country.

"They [the Democrats] are very childish. They're afraid if I were there, my supporters would be more upbeat, because I'd be close. I'm not going to stay, I know it's too close, but I will visit from time to time," he was quoted as saying on Times Online.

"I can work [for Cambodia] online. I can work through e-mail, but I want to thank Hun Sen in person. After he announced the royal decree, I rang him t

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Cambodia's new economic adviser arrives in Phnom Penh By Supalak Ganjanakhundee The Nation Convicted ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra lande

He arrived at a military airport at in Phnom Penh at about 9am by his private jet. He was then escorted into the Cambodian capital by a convoy of cars under tight security.

He is a Hun Sen's guest lecturer to talk about economy issue in front of about 300 officials and economists at Finance Ministry on Thursday

Hun Sen has appointed Thaksin as his economic adviser recently. The appointment endorsed by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni has drawn dissastisfaction from Thailand as Thaksin is a convicted and ran away from a two-year jail term for abuse of power and corruption.

To protest Cambodia over the appointment, Thailand recalled its ambassador to Phnom Penh and cancelled memorandum of understanding on Thai-Cambodia overlapping zones signed during Thaksin government.

Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva has insisted that Cambodia would not proceed with this [Thaksin's extradition] and criticised both Thai politics, and most importantly the Thai justice system questioning issues related to the court, fairness.

"I think Thailand and Thai people cannot accept this. All of this is not about political conflicts within our country but this is what all of us must assert on the legitimacy and dignity of our core institution, which is the justice system," Abhisit said.

Abhisit said his government had treated Thai-Cambodian conflicts carefully. Although it decided to lower bilateral relationship by recalling the ambassador, it was keeping in mind not to hurt people-to-people relations and border trade, and avoid tension or violence along the border. He said the conflict would not hurt regional cooperation such as Asean and Mekong countries.

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..how ignorant you are ...even an idiot knows this fact ...cheap newspaper editorial ...your vulgar newspaper": H.E. You Aye's own diplomatic words

I am writing to you as a response to the editorial of your newspaper on October 25, concerning Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. After reading your editorial, I must say that your newspaper has become a junky and vulgar newspaper. It has completely lost its value as a newspaper of a civilised country.

I wish to draw your attention to the following points, where your editorial committed the most serious mistakes which could not be forgiven:

First, what kind of a statement is it, when you said "You can take the man out of the jungle but you cannot take the jungle out of the man..." This is a great insult to our great leader, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen. It is a gangster-like statement. By insulting a leader of a neighbouring country, you have become a tool for escalating tensions between the two countries..

Second, when you stated that the "...Cambodia premier thought he was still leading some Khmer Rouge faction ..." You are absolutely dead wrong. It was Samdech Techo Hun Sen, who struggled and brought the demise of the Khmer Rouge. Prime Minister Hun Sen could have done it much earlier, if a neighouring country had not given shelter to the Khmer Rouge. It was also Samdech Techo Hun Sen who brought the Khmer Rouge leaders to the Extraordinary Chamber of Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

Third, Prime Minister Hun Sen is very much a humble and gentleman leader, who is a virtuous and moral man, especially vis-a-vis his friend. By doing so, he does not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, and does not in any, engage in " ... rubbing more salt on open wounds". The politics should be solved by the Thais themselves.

Fourth, Prime Minister Hun Sen did not permit "... himself to be part of a cheap ploy by ... Thaksin to steal the spotlight from a major international event", as you have wrongly alleged. You need to better learn about Samdech Techo Hun Sen. He does not need to appear in the Thai media. He only wants to be clear to everyone on what he will do.

Fifth, Prime Minister Hun Sen does not need any attention or recognition at all during the 15th Asean Summit. He came to Hua Hin with good will and sincerity to contribute to making the Asean Summit and related meetings a great success. Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power for a long time now. Prime Minister Hun Sen was elected to power once again, with more than two-thirds of the votes, and with full backing of his own political party, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

Sixth, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong rightly stated at the East Asian Summit in Hua Hin, on October 25, that the new members of Asean have been making great progress. And you said that the development of Cambodia "... would not count for much in terms of achievement in this day and age". Reading your editorial, most readers would think how ignorant you are. I think that you would not want to contradict the prime minister of Singapore.

Seventh, to state that "... Cambodia continues to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world" is to essentially engage in this politics of finger-pointing. One for Cambodia, three for ... For sure, Cambodia has less corruption than in its neighbouring country. Even an idiot knows this fact.

Eight, again, here is another dead wrong or manipulated fact of this cheap newspaper editorial. To be politically correct, it was Prime Minister Hun Sen who wanted the Khmer Rouge tribunal to be set up by signing the agreement with the United Nations, which brought the former Khmer Rogue leaders to trial under the current ECCC. And it was him who ordered the arrest of the Khmer Rouge leaders who are now put on trial.

Ninth, Prime Minister Hun Sen does not resent Asean at all, as he is being accused of by your vulgar newspaper. On the contrary, since joining Asean in April 1999, Cambodia, under the wise leadership of Samdech Techo Hun Sen, has made tremendous contributions to Asean. Everyone in Asean knows quite well the role and contributions of Cambodia to Asean.

Finally, by allowing His Excellency Thaksin to come into Cambodia, Samdech Techo Hun Sen only keeps his spirit of virtue and loyalty to his friend under any circumstances that his friend is in. But this is not only for His Excellency Thaksin, and is also not by "mutual admiration" and "twisted minds thinking alike", as you have falsely alleged.

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King Father Norodom Sihanouk Reacts To Sam Rainsy’s Border Report

KING FATHER NORODOM SIHANOUK REACTS TO SAM RAINSY’S BORDER REPORT

On November 7, opposition leader Sam Rainsy wrote to His Majesty the King Father Norodom Sihanouk, who is currently in Beijing, to inform him about the situation along the border with Vietnam, especially in Svay Rieng province where Cambodian farmers are continuously losing their rice fields because of border encroachments by the Vietnamese authorities.

Nobody understands the current border delineation process, which totally lacks transparency. Wooden poles have been arbitrarily and forcibly planted on Cambodian farmers’ rice fields by the Vietnamese authorities to allegedly delineate a “white zone”, which in turn would determine a new border line that would run deep inside Cambodia’s territory.

With the moral support of their elected representatives, Cambodian villagers have pulled out some of those wooden poles to symbolically show their refusal to give up ancestral rice fields they have been cultivating since 1979 and to be deprived of their livelihoods.

His Majesty the King Father, who presided over the now-defunct Supreme National Council on Border Affairs, which Sam Rainsy was a member of, reacted to the opposition leader’s report by writing today (November 10) three letters to CPP and Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin and Prime Minister Hun Sen, asking them to “examine” the information and evidence provided by Sam Rainsy.

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"Don't like what you read? Ban it": Bangkok and Phnom Penh are conjoined Siamese twins?

Thai government bans Thaksin Shinawatra interview with The Times
The Thai government has banned an interview in The Times with the ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and warned that its security agencies will take “appropriate actions” against any media organisations that report his remarks about the country’s royal family.

A spokesman for Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Prime Minister, warned journalists not to report the contents of the interview and hinted that the Government would use the country’s draconian lèse-majesté law, which imposes sentences of up to 12 years in jail for insulting the king or his family.

Internet users in Thailand said last night that it was impossible to access the news article, in which Thaksin spoke of his hopes for his country after the death of the revered King, Bhumibol Adulyadej. It is not clear whether this is a result of censorship but the Ministry of Information routinely blocks web pages that are deemed to contain information unflattering to the monarchy.

According to the Bangkok Post, Thepthai Senpong, Mr Abhisit’s spokesman, said that “the comments in the interview were offensive to the royal institution”. He added that the ruling Democrat Party would recommend “appropriate action” by the Government and security agencies against media that report the interview.

“I would like to say that Thaksin’s interview violates the monarchy, which is the country’s main institution,” Kasit Piromya, the Thai Foreign Minister, told reporters in Bangkok. “I wonder what the hidden agenda was that caused him to make this inappropriate move. In his interview, there are several parts referring to His Majesty the King, the Crown Prince and the monarchy, and [they] also refer to His Majesty’s role in politics.”

He said that the Justice Ministry would consider whether to charge Thaksin with lèse-majesté on top of the two-year prison sentence imposed upon him in absentia for a land deal transacted during his five years as Prime Minister.

The controversy over the interview focuses on Thaksin’s remarks about Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. He emphasised his loyalty to King Bhumibol, who has been in hospital for seven weeks but spoke of his hopes for a lesspoliticised royal palace after the king’s passing.

Mr Thaksin issued a statement saying that The Times’s report was “distorted” and “untrue”. The text of the interview, posted on Times Online, matches the recording of the conversation and was transcribed by a press representative of Mr Thaksin.

Mr Kasit said that Thailand would begin extradition proceedings against Mr Thaksin today, as he arrives in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. It will be his first time back in the region since fleeing in August last year, and the trip is aggravating tensions between the neighbours.

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More Trouble in Thailand

Thaksin needles the government and a fugitive financier is returned

The government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Democrat Party are being battered by a series of events including the visit to Phnom Penh this week by Thaksin Shinawatra, the leader ousted in a 2006 coup, and a wide-ranging interview that Thaksin gave in Dubai to the Times of London in which, among other things, he accused the Privy Council surrounding King Bhumibol Adulyadej of manipulating the monarch.

Also the extradition of disgraced financier Rakesh Saxena, 57, who had staged the longest battle in Canadian history to avoid being sent back to Thailand to face charges he had helped to embezzle tens of millions of dollars in phony bank loans in 1996, now injects a volatile new set of issues into Thailand's shaky political agenda.

How much damage the political contest has caused is uncertain. Nomura Global Economics reported in late October that: "The Thai economy contracted the most among Asean countries in 2Q09 in year-on-year terms, driven by a decline in exports (-21.8%) and gross fixed capital formation (-10.1%)" and that "political uncertainty has delayed a recovery in consumption and investment."

The Thaksin interview, a long series of self-justifications which can be found here, has outraged government officials at a time when Abhisit is scheduled to be at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore and meet with US President Barack Obama. It can also be expected to drive the royalists in the People's Alliance for Democracy, which twice brought down governments aligned with Thaksin, into new demonstrations over Thaksin's supposed disloyalty and meddling by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Thai affairs by offering Thaksin a position as his "economic adviser."

Saxena arrived last Friday, bundled in blankets in a wheelchair and said to be suffering from a stroke that had partly paralyzed him. He was immediately whisked away to Thailand's Crime Suppression Bureau. Prior to his flight from Thailand, he was said to be close to Newin Chidchob, the Northern Thailand politician whose defection along with those of 16 of his followers from the Thaksin delivered Abhisit Vejjajiva and the Democrat Party to power.

The supporters of the billionaire fugitive Thaksin have been clamoring for Saxena's extradition for months on the theory that bringing him back could put the Democrat-led majority coalition in danger. Along with Newin, several other politicians in his camp, including Suchart Tancharoen and Pairoj Suwanchawee, have been identified as making money from the fraud perpetrated by Saxena. Prior to his extradition from Vancouver, BC, Saxena said he feared for his life. He later said had a full list of the politicians, some now in the cabinet, who were involved in the scandal that sent him in flight. The Democrats have assured the press that he is under 24-hour guard in Bangkok.

For his part, Abhisit has pledged cooperation with the authorities, telling reporters that "Everyone is obliged to supply information even though such information may harm the cliques within the government because we have to uphold the national interest."

Although the Democrats were in opposition and led the censure debate over the Bank of Commerce scandal, the support of Newin's so-called Group of 16 was instrumental in delivering Abhisit and the Democrats to the shaky hold on power that they have enjoyed for the last several months. Many of Newin's allies are now scattered throughout the unwieldy 35-member Thai cabinet.

Over the last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen added to the uncertainty by offering to employ Thaksin Shinawatra as an "economics advisor," perhaps in retaliation for PAD anti-Cambodian activity at the Preah Vihear temple since 2008. Both countries have recalled their respective ambassadors over the affair. Despite the political setbacks, the absent Thaksin probably remains the second-most popular figure after the ailing king.

Saxena's return, given his role in the linchpin of the scandal, couldn't be more inconvenient for Abhisit. It was Saxena's role as treasurer advisor to the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, whose collapse with US$3 billion in debt in 1996 was one of the contributing factors to the devaluation of the Thai baht and ultimately the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-1998. He was charged with looting US$88 million through establishing a series of phony loans through the bank. According to media reports, he and his team identified moribund companies, pumped up their balance sheets while looting the assets and firing staff, then sold them to unsuspecting shareholders. Among the companies targeted as takeover objects were Morakot Industries, Jalaprathan Cement, Semiconductor Venture International and Phoenix Pulp and Paper.

In July of 1995, according to reports, he transferred more than US$80 million out of Thailand in defiance of banking regulations and, shortly after that, followed the money out to Canada.

The financier ultimately washed up in British Columbia, where his extradition hearing was the longest in Canadian history. Even after the presiding judge ruled there were grounds to extradite him, it took the federal justice minister more than three years to order his return to Thailand.

The return of Saxena -- who has been implicated in a series of dubious stock schemes and a counter-coup in Sierra Leone while under house arrest in Vancouver, comes at an extremely sensitive time for Thailand, with Bhumibol increasingly infirm. The 86-year-old monarch last week returned to the public eye after more than a month in hospital, more frail than ever and with the royal succession in doubt although the official line is that he will get the job. The king's son, Vajiralongkorn, is deeply unpopular and it appears that the royal family may be in the hands of a regency run by the queen, Sirikit.

Abhisit, in Singapore this week for the APEC conference, and his Democrats are beset on one side by the pro-Thaksin Red Shirts, who have now formed the Phieu Thai Party, and the anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirts, who are establishing a royalist party of their own, the New Politics Party which was formed in July.

There appears to be considerable behind-the-scenes agitation to pardon Thaksin, perhaps in exchange for his forsaking political activity in exchange for the restoration of his billion-dollar telecommunications fortune. Whatever happens, Saxena's return adds yet another explosive to the volatile mixture that is Thai politics.

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Squabbling Harms Asean solidarity

Thailand and Cambodia must resolve their disputes for the sake of regional unity
The ongoing Thai-Cambodian quarrel is a good indication that the future of the Asean Community still has a long way to go. Just look at the way Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen chose to ignore the plea from the Thai government not to get involved with a Thai fugitive. This will be a case study in the history of the regional grouping, when a leader within Asean does not really understand the requirements of responsible diplomacy regarding sovereignty vis-a-vis the opposition movement in neighbouring countries.

How can Asean form a single community when an Asean leader does not understand where to push and where to draw back in the internal dynamics of a neighbour? In the future, Asean's integration could become more problematic because it will certainly involve sensitive issues such as the rule of law, human rights and good governance.

Looking at the future of Asean through the Thai-Cambodian conflict, there will not be much comfort for supporters of further Asean integration. Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power for the past 25 years, and has shown no sign of retiring.

No wonder Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan expressed serious concern a few days ago over the Thai-Cambodian tensions. He urged both sides to exercise "maximum restraint". Somehow, his advice fell on deaf ears.

Neither side has stood down from its position, and this has already had a detrimental effect on border trade and people-to-people contact. Surin urged the respective foreign ministers to settle the bilateral dispute amicably and as soon as possible.

Surin was right in pointing out that the dispute could undermine the reputation of Asean ahead of the Apec meeting and Asean-US Summit to be held later this week in Singapore. So far, only the government of Singapore, the summit's host, has openly expressed concern over the situation. But the other Asean members have kept quiet. A few Asean members have contacted Thailand and asked for information.

It is possible that in the next few days, ahead of the Singapore meetings, a mediator between Thailand and Cambodia could be appointed to find an acceptable way out for both sides. Surin has said that, as signatories to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, all Asean members are obliged to offer assistance to help fellow member countries settle bilateral disputes, even when the two conflicting parties cannot agree to refer their dispute to any regional body for dispute settlement.

If any Asean member takes such an initiative to help ease the Thai-Cambodian tension, it would mark a new chapter within the grouping's history. It would mean that Asean members are beginning to care about fellow members within the family, especially with two of them at each other's throats.

Since 1997, Asean has been trying to convince Burma to reform, but to no avail. However, any conflict among members is a matter of urgency that needs to be resolved quickly. In the next few days, we will find out if Asean's solidarity will be forever at risk.

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Thaksin may be charged with lese majeste for statements construed to be against the Thai king

According to the Bangkok Post, deposed Thai ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may be charged with lèse majesté (the Thai law that charges people with a crime against the royal family if they say anything against the King of Thailand or any other member of the royal family) for statements he allegedly made in a British newspaper interview. In an interview with the The Times, according to the Bangkok Post, it's claimed that Thaksin made statements calling for reform of the monarch and said that Thailand would have a future "shining" era when HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, the son of His Majesty the King, takes the throne. Thaksin himself denies he said this, saying the interview was a "complete distortion" of what he said.

Thailand is one of only a handful of countries that still charges people with lèse majesté. Thailand has very strict lèse majesté, with several people being put in jail in Thailand over the last two years for making statements against the royal family. Two years ago, a Swiss man, Oliver Jufer, who had lived in Thailand for many years was convicted of lèse majesté for spray painting photographs of the King while drunk. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 10 years in prison, but was subsequently pardoned by the King and then deported back to Switzerland.

In 2009, Harry Nicolaides, an Australian writer was arrested at Bangkok's international airport and charged with lèse majesté for a passage in a fiction book that was about a member of the royal family. He plead guilty and was sentenced to three years in jail, but was then pardoned by the King and released. Nicolaides is now back in Australia. Even a BBC journalist, Jonathan Head, was charged with lèse majesté with no decision having yet been made on that case.

For Thaksin to allegedly make statements about the royal family will cause more negativity against him in Thailand, as well as possibly serious legal problems.

Meanwhile, Thaksin is purportedly to be arriving in Cambodia on Thursday to begin his appointment as political adviser to the Cambodian government. On the charges of lèse majesté, the Thai Justice Minister will be deciding if charges are laid against him or not.

You can also read The Times interview with Thaksin Shinawatra here.

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Hun Sen ups his ante to near confrontation

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, smarting from his costly miscalculation in appointing fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra as his adviser, continues to overplay his hand in a big gamble, putting his country at stake in a diplomatic dispute with Thailand. This time, he wants to elevate the spat to a confrontation.

After being put under the spotlight in Tokyo, Hun Sen went home like a bull in a china shop, so to speak, fuming with rage after being snubbed by Thailand's withdrawal of its ambassador and cancellation of a memorandum of understanding on oil reserves that had promised to serve as a cash cow for Hun Sen.

Seeking retaliation to regain lost ground, Hun Sen immediately summoned Thaksin to Phnom Penh to accept the advisory role - as if the damage done so far was not enough to create a crisis with his neighbour.

Of course, the two must have conversed on the phone on how to get out of this embarrassing situation. It was a big blow for their egos and a major setback for Thaksin and his cronies who are fighting for his return to Thailand. Thaksin's first advice, obviously, was that Hun Sen should press ahead and not stand down.

The big bully in Phnom Penh has enjoyed getting his own way for too long. He has hurled various insults at Thailand, without much response - more so with his view towards Prime Minister Abhisit. In Hun Sen's view, partly shaped by Thaksin, he must assume that the Thai leader is a greenhorn with no stomach for an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation.

Certainly the young politician is not up to Hun Sen's thuggish meanness. Endurance over 24 years in power in Cambodia should be a warning that Hun should not to be taken lightly. With this in mind, Hun Sen has recklessly stepped beyond the diplomatic fine line by honouring an apprentice of tyranny from Thailand with a high position in Cambodia.

The fugitive will perform his first duty as Hun Sen's guru by giving a lecture on economic affairs to about 300 Cambodian experts and technocrats; he'll be telling them how to run their country's economy. He must think that, with his massive wealth, no Cambodian is as smart at making money as he is.

Abhisit today presides over the Cabinet meeting to cancel the MOU on oil drilling in the Gulf of Thailand. He could discuss more counter-measures now that Hun Sen has upped the ante with a challenge that the joint border could be closed, if Thailand wants.

Hun Sen has also challenged Abhisit to call for a snap election to prove his popularity over Thaksin, the patron of the Pheu Thai Party, which is perceived as a potential winner. Well, this was too much. But Hun Sen ignores diplomatic protocol and simple civility.

From barbs and crudeness, Hun Sen is just a step away from open sabre-rattling. At least he saw some sense the other day by instructing his deputy supreme commander to talk to the Thai Army commanding officer on the border that he wants to avoid armed conflict of any kind. It was different from the previous flexing of muscles that Cambodian soldiers were far superior in terms of combat.

How far is Hun Sen prepared to go in the ongoing dispute? Cambodians on the border are worried that a border closure would cause more than just discomfort. Casinos in Poipet would be hard hit without gamblers from Thailand, their major source of income.

By now, Cambodia's people and opposition politicians should feel offended by the entire ruckus. Having a Thai criminal anointed by the king is an insult to Cambodian royalty. What's more? Thaksin just made a grave remark in relation to the Thai monarchy in Timesonline, further causing more anger among Thais towards the fugitive.

Thaksin immediately responded on Twitter, blaming Times for distorting his comments. This is not news. Thaksin always blames other people for anything that goes wrong, and never accepts any responsibility for damage caused as a result of his loose tongue.

This is not the first time Thaksin has broken the taboo regarding the country's revered institution. The latest blatant act of lese majeste will worsen his predicament, so much that he could become the most hated man in Thailand's recent political history.

Not only that, the red shirts and Pheu Thai members will find it difficult to defend their big boss, whose relationship with the bully in Cambodia has seen him branded as a traitor nationwide. Their next campaign to dislodge Abhisit from power is expected to backfire in the face of broad-based public resentment.

The two friends with vested interests will struggle hard to remain in a good light. They have many things in common, including a streak of tyranny, a penchant for graft, a super-ego, and bottomless arrogance and ambition, among other cravings.

How their high-stakes gamble will end up eventually, is not very hard to guess.

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2009 Report on International Religious Freedom - Cambodia

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
International Religious Freedom Report 2009
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion. Buddhism is the state religion.

The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the reporting period.

There were few reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice.

The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.

Section I. Religious Demography

The country has an area of 67,000 square miles and a population of 14.1 million. An estimated 93 percent of the population is Theravada Buddhist. The Theravada Buddhist tradition is widespread and strong in all provinces, with an estimated 4,330 pagodas throughout the country. The vast majority of ethnic Khmer Cambodians are Buddhist, and there is a close association between Buddhism, Khmer cultural traditions, and daily life. Adherence to Buddhism generally is considered intrinsic to the country's ethnic and cultural identity. The Mahayana school of Buddhism claims approximately 31,639 followers and has 88 temples throughout the country.

There are approximately 500,000 to 700,000 Muslims (between 3.5 to 5 percent of the population), predominantly ethnic Cham, who generally are found in towns and rural fishing villages on the banks of the Tonle Sap lake and the Mekong River, as well as in Kampot Province. Some organizations cite lower estimates for the number of Cham Muslims. There are four branches of Islam represented: the Malay-influenced Shafi'i branch, practiced by 88 percent of Cham Muslims; the Saudi-Kuwaiti-influenced Salafi (sometimes called "Wahhabi") branch, which claims 6 percent of the total Muslim population, although this number is increasing; the indigenous Iman-San branch, practiced by 3 percent; and the Kadiani branch, which also accounts for 3 percent. There are 244 mosques of the 4 main branches and 333 small Suravs, which are meeting places that have congregations of up to 40 persons and do not have a minbar from which Friday sermons are given. Suravs may belong to any branch of Islam and are distinct from other types of mosques only in their architectural structure; they are usually much smaller and built in rural areas of the country.

The small but growing Christian community constitutes approximately 2 percent of the population. There are an estimated 100 Christian organizations or denominations that operate freely throughout the country. There are approximately 1,609 churches--1544 Protestant and 65 Roman Catholic. Only an estimated 900 of these churches are officially registered. Other religious groups with small followings include the ethnic Vietnamese Cao Dai and the Baha'i Faith, each with an estimated 2,000 practitioners.

Section II. Status of Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion. The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on religion, and the Government does not tolerate abuse of religious freedom, either by governmental or private actors. Buddhism is the state religion, and the Government promotes Buddhist holidays, provides Buddhist training and education to monks and others in pagodas, and modestly supports an institute that performs research and publishes materials on Khmer culture and Buddhist traditions.

The law requires all religious groups, including Buddhist groups, to submit applications to the Ministry of Cults and Religions if they wish to construct places of worship and conduct religious activities. In their applications, groups must state clearly their religious purposes and activities, which must comply with provisions forbidding religious groups from insulting other religious groups, creating disputes, or undermining national security. There is no penalty for failing to register, and in practice some groups do not. Although the Ministry of Cults and Religions attempted to enforce a 2007 regulation requiring all churches to re-register in order to obtain a new operating license, no churches had complied within the reporting period.

The Directive on Controlling External Religions requires registration of places of worship and religious schools, in addition to government approval prior to constructing new places of worship. Places of worship must be located at least two kilometers from each other and may not be used for political purposes or to house criminals or fugitives from the law. The distance requirement applies only to new construction of places of worship and not to offices of religious organizations. There have been no cases documented where the directive was used to bar a church or mosque from constructing a new facility. The directive also requires that religious groups refrain from openly criticizing other groups. During the reporting period, there were no reports that any religious groups encountered significant difficulties in obtaining approval for construction of places of worship.

The Government permits Buddhist religious instruction in public schools. Other forms of religious instruction are prohibited in public schools; however, non-Buddhist religious instruction may be provided by private schools. The Government directed that all Muslim students and government employees be allowed to wear Islamic attire in class and in the office. The decision reflected respect for the beliefs of those other than the Buddhist majority.

All major Theravada Buddhist holidays are observed by the Cambodian Government.

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the reporting period.

Unlike in previous years, the Government did not close any madrassahs (Islamic schools). The Government has granted permission for the construction of a new Islamic college which will provide general education and skills training to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners in the country.

Forced Religious Conversion

There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or who had not been allowed to be returned to the United States.

Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect for Religious Freedom

Government officials continued to organize meetings for representatives of all religious groups to discuss religious developments and to address problems of concern. The Ministry of Cults and Religion typically hosts two national interfaith meetings annually in preparation for the Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue. During the reporting period, however, no meetings were held. This was in part due to July 2008 elections during which time a new Minister of Cults and Religions was selected.

Section III. Societal Abuses and Discrimination

There were few reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice.

Minority religious groups experienced little or no societal discrimination during the reporting period; however, Muslims and Christians reported minor conflicts that were personal in nature.

Some Buddhists expressed concern about the Cham Muslim community receiving financial assistance from foreign countries; however Cham Muslims were generally well integrated into society, held prominent positions in business and the Government, and faced no reported acts of discrimination or abuse during the reporting period.

There are ecumenical and interfaith organizations, which are often supported by funding from foreign public or private entities.

Section IV. U.S. Government Policy

The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. Embassy representatives met with religious leaders on these issues and contacted representatives of religious nongovernmental organizations and other groups representing Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian religious groups.

The Embassy continued its Muslim engagement efforts, which provide for additional channels of information on the status of religious freedom among the Muslim population while also providing material assistance. The Embassy continued to provide financial support for the Voice of Cham radio station, which provides a forum for discussion of religious and other issues and is the only Cham language radio program in the country. The Embassy hosted a Ramadan reception in Phnom Penh, with more than 150 Cham Muslim guests, and hosted an iftar for the Cham community in Kampot, a region approximately three hours south of Phnom Penh. The event attracted more than 100 leaders of the community, including imams, heads of madrassahs, and religious teachers.

The Embassy has worked to maintain close contact with the Buddhist and Christian religious communities through visits to wats (Buddhist temples) and churches and through joint programs. The Embassy hosted a series of seminars to promote a closer relationship between the Cham community and law enforcement officials in an attempt to broaden dialogue and promote community policing.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) continued to work with several Buddhist temples on a faith-based approach to helping people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Projects with Christian groups included Embassy-hosted events for the "Little Sprouts," a program for AIDS orphans run by the Catholic Maryknoll sisters, and puppet shows presented by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) during U.S. military medical missions. These programs afforded Embassy officers the opportunity to meet with both Buddhist and Christian religious figures on numerous occasions and assess the operating environment for their religious groups in the country.

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