A Change of Guard

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Saturday 22 May 2010

Cambodian govt rejects claims that Cambodian citizens took part in the burning of buildings in Bangkok

By Khmerization
Source: CEN

The Cambodian Council of Ministers has angrily denied Thai media claims that a number of Cambodian citizens had taken part in the burning of many buildings in Bangkok in the aftermath of the Thai crackdown on red shirt protesters on Wednesday, reports Cambodian Express News.

A Thai online newspaper, Krung Thep Thurakej (Bangkok Business) Online, reported on Friday that Thai police had arrested a Cambodian national named Petch Saengmanee or Pich Saengmanee, for torching a Bangkok Bank building, while 20 of his co-conspirators had escaped arrests.

Cambodian Council of Ministers' Press and Quick Reaction Unit (PQRU) swiftly rejected the allegation, saying it is a pure fabrication concocted by the Thai government to demonise Cambodia.

In a press conference held on Saturday morning, PQRU had distributed a translated version of the Krung Thep Thurakej's article to local and foreign journalists present at the conference which reported that Mr. Chayrath Aranwat, police inspector of Klongtan district, had claimed that Thai police had arrested 27 year-old Petch Saengmanee in front of the Bangkok Bank branch at Sukhumvit Road in Klongtoey district with evidences of a cigarette lighter and an oil-soaked cloth with him at the time of his arrest.

Mr. Tith Sothea, spokesman for PQRU, has expressed his regrets over the allegation, calling it a fabrication concocted by the Abhisit government in order to link the current Thai political crisis to Cambodia. He denied that the arrested man is a Cambodian national saying the man's name is not even a Cambodian name.

An article in an Irish Times has also reported that there are rumours circulating in Thailand that Cambodian mercenaries had been hired by the red shirt movement as guards to protect the protest sites. In a similar allegation, the red shirt media had a few days ago reported that the Thai government had dressed up Khmer prisoners as soldiers and sent them to crackdown on the red shirt protest sites. The Cambodian government said it will investigate the red shirt's allegation.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The name of the arrested man is a Thai name, not a Khmer name. It is ridiculous that Khmers have become convenient scapegoats for all the Thai political problems. Khmers have gone through enough suffering and bloodshed so they would be scared to get into such dangerous game. If they found some Khmer-speaking protesters among the red shirts, they must be ethnic Khmers living in Thailand called Khmer Surin. These claims are total lies to try to sow hatred among the Thais against Cambodia and the Khmers people. The yellow shirts who brought Abhisit into powers have caused border conflict with Cambodia when they stir up trouble along the border that saw Thai troops occupying a strip of lands in Preah Vihear temple in 2008 that caused armed clashes and tensions until today. Now they try to whip up nationalism again in order to drum up support for the Abhisit government. Stop blaming Khmers for all your problems. Enough is enough!