Mr. Suthep talking to reporters.By Khmerization
40 Thai MPs have increased pressures on the Thai government to retaliate against Cambodia for appointing fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra as its government economic advisor, reports Khmer Sthapana.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Suthep Thaugsuban, earlier played down the significance of Thaksin's appointment, but later his government strongly expressed its unhappiness with Thaksin's appointment by recalling its ambassador. Mr. Suthep also raised a possibility of a tit for a tat retaliation by appointing Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy as his government's economic advisor. "We are well aware that it is the right of Cambodia to appoint Thaksin. But let me ask you this: what would PM Hun Sen say, if we were to appoint Cambodia's Opposition leader Sam Rainsy as our economic adviser", Suthep Thaugsuban said.
Both government spokesman Mr. Khieu Kanharith and Council of Ministers spokesman Mr. Phay Siphan cannot be reached for comments in regard to Mr. Suthep's comments. However, Mr. Tith Sothea, Press Secretary of the Council of Ministers, said he doesn't know whether Mr. Sam Rainsy will accept the Thai appointment, should it happened. He said it means that Mr. Sam Rainsy is serving foreign interests and acts against the will of the Cambodian people if he accepts to work for a foreign government.
Mr. Sam Rainsy, however, has issued a pre-emptive statement refusing any eventual move by the Thai government to appoint him after Mr. Suthep had compared him to Mr. Thaksin.
In his statement, Mr. Sam Rainsy said that he is exclusively devoted to serving Cambodia and her people. "It would never come to my mind to serve a foreign government that is at odds with my own country. All my time and resources are and will be exclusively devoted to serving and defending my sacred motherland Cambodia", he said.
40 Thai MPs have increased pressures on the Thai government to retaliate against Cambodia for appointing fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra as its government economic advisor, reports Khmer Sthapana.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Suthep Thaugsuban, earlier played down the significance of Thaksin's appointment, but later his government strongly expressed its unhappiness with Thaksin's appointment by recalling its ambassador. Mr. Suthep also raised a possibility of a tit for a tat retaliation by appointing Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy as his government's economic advisor. "We are well aware that it is the right of Cambodia to appoint Thaksin. But let me ask you this: what would PM Hun Sen say, if we were to appoint Cambodia's Opposition leader Sam Rainsy as our economic adviser", Suthep Thaugsuban said.
Both government spokesman Mr. Khieu Kanharith and Council of Ministers spokesman Mr. Phay Siphan cannot be reached for comments in regard to Mr. Suthep's comments. However, Mr. Tith Sothea, Press Secretary of the Council of Ministers, said he doesn't know whether Mr. Sam Rainsy will accept the Thai appointment, should it happened. He said it means that Mr. Sam Rainsy is serving foreign interests and acts against the will of the Cambodian people if he accepts to work for a foreign government.
Mr. Sam Rainsy, however, has issued a pre-emptive statement refusing any eventual move by the Thai government to appoint him after Mr. Suthep had compared him to Mr. Thaksin.
In his statement, Mr. Sam Rainsy said that he is exclusively devoted to serving Cambodia and her people. "It would never come to my mind to serve a foreign government that is at odds with my own country. All my time and resources are and will be exclusively devoted to serving and defending my sacred motherland Cambodia", he said.
4 comments:
Smart move, Mr. Rainsy. Don't play into Thai hands. To serve a foreign country that is at odds with Cambodia would be tantamount to treason.
Yeah absolutely right!
Sam Ransy is not stupid to be an adnvisor for Thai Priminister. If he did that, he would lose his fan.
I think there is a big misunderstanding here either in the translation of the remarks by the Thai deputy PM or in the reporting. At no time the Thai official said that Thailand "may" or "would" appoint Sam Rainsy as an "Economic Advisor". All he was asking hypothetically was "how would Mr Hun Sen feel if Thailand were to appoint Mr Sam Rainsy as an "Economic Advisor"? He never said that Thailand was considering such action.
Secondly, there is huge difference between Sam Rainsy and Thaksin. The latter has been convicted by a crime related to corruption practices in his homeland. He decided to break his bail and not to return to Thailand to avois prison. If he felt that he was no fairly treated by the Thai courts (which are independent from the government) he should have returned to Thailand to figth his case. Sam Rainsy, to my knowledge, has not been convicted of any crime.
I am afraid to say it but on this opportunity the sympathies of the outside world are with Thailand and not with Cambodia. There were many avenues opened to the Royal Cambodian government to try to solve its differences over Preah Vihear with Thailand but Mr Hun Sen instead decided to antagonise the current Thai administration. This will lead to nothing but yet another period of bad relations between the two countries.
As usual, in this current episode, the great looser is the people of Cambodia, who will have to put up yet again with another period of instability in its relationships with its close neighbour Thailand. It is more than regrettable that no one in the Royal Cambodian government dared to point out to Mr Hun Sen the dangers of the action he decided to take by appointing a convicted person to such a position of trust in the Royal Cambodian government.
Ambassador Julio A. Jeldres
Adjunct Research Fellow
The Asia Institute
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
I concur with Ambassador Julio's comments here. It is true, however, that Mr. Suthep answered a hypothetical question, but his answer can be interpreted as a threat of a tit for tat retaliation.
Mr. Rainsy was smart to issue a swift and pre-emptive rejection of a potential appointment by the Thai government. I don't, however, believe that Mr. Rainsy really thinks that the Thai government will appoint him as its economic advisor, but he wanted to make his position clear so Hun Sen cannot use any excuse to attack or demonize him.
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