Cambodia takes control of CATS

The alleged Thai spy Siwarak with his mother.

Published: 19/11/2009
Bangkok Post

Cambodia has taken control of Cambodian Air Traffic Services (CATS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Thailand's Samart Corporation, and appointed a senior Civil Aviation official as its temporary caretaker, Samart said in a statement on Thursday.

Cambodian authorities ejected all Thai employees from their offices at CATS on Wednesday after Phnom Penh filed formal charges against Siwarak Chutipong, a Thai engineer working for the air traffic control firm, accusing him of spying.

"The caretaker has prohibited Thai expatriates from performing their duties," Samart vice-chairman Sirichai Rasameechan said in a statement filed with the Stock Exchange of Thailand, where the company is listed.

CATS has a 32-year concession (2001-2033) to provide air traffic control services under a build, cooperate and transfer arrangement with the Cambodian government. Revenue from the operation this year contributed about 5 per cent of the group's earnings.

The deal was covered by an investment protection agreement between the two countries, he said. Samart was seeking the government's help to end the problem.

"Samart has been closely cooperating with the Thai government to help negotiations with the Cambodian government for the release of Mr Sivarak and to resolve this incident," the statement, which was issued in Thai, said.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya insisted that Cambodia must comply with the law in ejecting Thai nationals from their jobs at CATS, replacing them with Cambodians and seizing the company's equipment.

Kasit said any action against the company and its employees must be strictly according to the law and comply with Cambodia's own investment and internal affairs regulations.

"The ministry is waiting for reports from the Thai embassy and we will also have to get clarification from the Cambodian government. If it violates bilateral agreements, then we will find ways to proceed from there," he told reporters.
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"Cambodia is a market economy," he added. "Just seizing [a company] would not seem right."

The Foreign Ministry had sent the Consular Affairs Department deputy director-general to see Mr Sivarak's mother in Nakhon Ratchasima. Mr Kasit said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had promised Mr Sivarak's mother that he would visit her detained son if possible.

The government had to wait for Cambodia's confirmation of a time for the meeting with Mr Sivarak. The ministry had also hired a lawyer to liaise with Samart about the problem.

"There are, however, no problems with Thai-Cambodian relations," he insisted.

Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister, denied Puea Thai Party MP Jatuporn Promphan's claim that Mr Kasit had ordered the Thai embassy's first secretary Kamrob Palawatwichai to find out the flight schedule of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Chavanond challenged Mr Jatuporn to make public a copy of the tape he claimed to have of the conversation, and slammed Mr Jatuporn's statement as "nonsense".

He said the Foreign Ministry is providing assistance for Mr Sivarak and finding a lawyer to defend him.

The ministry this morning asked the Cambodian government to allow Mr Sivarak's mother to visit her son in Prey Sar prison.

The Thai engineer is accused of "stealing classified information affecting national security" by passing details of Thaksin's and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's flight plan to an official at the Thai embassy.