'Patriots' rally to demand Thais' release

Thai MP Panich Vikitsreth being led by Cambodian police to court.

Protesters say accused were not trespassing

Published: 3/01/2011
Bangkok Post

The Thai Patriots Network is hoping to mobilise thousands of people to join a rally in Sa Kaeo tomorrow to increase the pressure on Phnom Penh to release seven Thais being held for alleged illegal entry into Cambodia.

Supporters in Bangkok will gather at Government House at noon today before travelling to Sripen Road in Sa Kaeo. Network co-leader Chaiwat Sinsuwong expects at least 5,000 people to join the protest.

The seven being held in Phnom Penh include Democrat Party MP for Bangkok Panich Vikitsreth and a leading member of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), Veera Somkwamkid.

Mr Panich is a serving member of the Joint Boundary Committee which is made up of representatives from Thailand and Cambodia.

The group was arrested last Wednesday while inspecting a disputed border area near Ban Nong Jarn in Sa Kaeo's Khok Sung district. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged them on Thursday with encroaching on Cambodian territory and entering a military area.

The Thai Patriots Network says the group was on Thai territory. It backs its claim with land documents and receipts of tax payments.

An adviser to the network, former senator Karun Saingam, said Thai landowners had been unable to secure title deeds as land officials could not enter and measure the area because it was occupied by Cambodian soldiers.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said relatives of the detainees were likely to meet them at Prey Sor prison in Phnom Penh today.

The relatives, who were already in Phnom Penh, were awaiting final approval for the visit from the Cambodian authorities, he said.

Democrat Party deputy leader Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of a party panel on political development and public participation, said yesterday the arrests could have a "ripple effect on politics", especially on the rally planned by the PAD for Jan22.

The PAD is heading protests against what it sees as territorial losses to Cambodia along the eastern border.

The deputy spokesman of the opposition Puea Thai Party, Jirayu Huangsap, said yesterday the Democrat-led government was trying to mend the relationship with Phnom Penh, but things had now been complicated by one of its MPs teaming up with a member of the PAD to work on border issues.