Dust settles on ministry transfers

After the dust has settled, the truth will appear. This statement by former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama when he announced his resignation last month can be perfectly applied to the transfer of senior Foreign Ministry officials on Tuesday.

Current Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag proposed on Tuesday that the cabinet reinstate the three ministry officials who had been transferred by Mr Noppadon to their previous positions at the ministry.

They include Virachai Plasai, now ambassador attached to the ministry, to replace Krit Kraijitti. Mr Krit will return to his old job as chief of the International Economic Affairs Department now held by Thanatip Upatising. Mr Thanatip will return to his old position as ambassador attached to the ministry.

Mr Noppadon's reason for the abrupt transfer of Mr Virachai on May 6 was because he wanted to improve work efficiency by putting the right man in the right job. Mr Virachai was also alleged to have performed unsatisfactorily in the eyes of Mr Noppadon.

But a motive for the transfer, which the public still believes even now Mr Noppadon has gone, is in connection with the documents about the controversial purchase of Suvarnabhumi's CTX bomb scanners, which came under Mr Virachai's responsibility.

Certain politicians were believed to be eager to see the document in order to help former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra fight his corruption case.

Now, with the proverbial dust having settled, Mr Virachai was chosen by Mr Tej as a key figure in the negotiations with Cambodia on July 28 in Siem Reap that led to the agreement by both sides to reduce their troops around Preah Vihear temple.

The transfer of Mr Krit back to his old job at the International Economic Department does not mean he did anything wrong during his three months in the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department. In fact, he performed very well in protecting the Thai territory from Cambodia in the border dispute.

Mr Tej might see Mr Virachai has more experience in dealing with the Preah Vihear case, as he had followed this issue since the Christchurch meeting last year, when Cambodia tried to list the temple as a World Heritage site using the controversial 1907 France-Siam map which shows an overlapping area with Thailand.

In addition, Mr Virachai also has experience negotiating with Laos in the bloody dispute over the sovereignty of Ban Rom Kao in 1988.

At least one thing is for sure after Mr Noppadon's departure from the ministry _ ministry officials confirmed he did not take a copy of the CTX document with him.