The confiscated photos show the 7 Thai trespassers walked at ease through a Cambodian village, 1200 metres deep inside Cambodian territory.BANGKOK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Seven Thais arrested by Cambodia at the border will say they crossed by accident, Thailand's foreign minister said Wednesday.
The seven, including Parliament member Panich Vikitsreth and the leader of the Thai Patriots Network, Veera Somkwamkid, were arrested by Cambodian troops Dec. 29 near the village of Nong Jan.
The trial is to begin Thursday and is expected to be short, Thai officials told the Bangkok Post.
Lawyers appointed by the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh will defend the seven, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said. They will contend the suspects were inspecting land owned by Thais next to the border, and will cite video evidence.
The Foreign Ministry will ask the court to release the defendants on bail, Kasit said.
The seven will need to admit trespassing since the Thai military inspected the scene and found they had crossed a few yards into Cambodia.
Thai diplomat Adisorn Pokmontri said both governments want to settle the case amicably.
Seven members of the Thai Patriots Network were allowed to visit the disputed border area Wednesday despite opposition from local residents who said they were hurting good relations with their Cambodian neighbors.
The seven, including Parliament member Panich Vikitsreth and the leader of the Thai Patriots Network, Veera Somkwamkid, were arrested by Cambodian troops Dec. 29 near the village of Nong Jan.
The trial is to begin Thursday and is expected to be short, Thai officials told the Bangkok Post.
Lawyers appointed by the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh will defend the seven, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said. They will contend the suspects were inspecting land owned by Thais next to the border, and will cite video evidence.
The Foreign Ministry will ask the court to release the defendants on bail, Kasit said.
The seven will need to admit trespassing since the Thai military inspected the scene and found they had crossed a few yards into Cambodia.
Thai diplomat Adisorn Pokmontri said both governments want to settle the case amicably.
Seven members of the Thai Patriots Network were allowed to visit the disputed border area Wednesday despite opposition from local residents who said they were hurting good relations with their Cambodian neighbors.
2 comments:
Yea..sure, just don't tell that to Panich. Appearantly, Panich didn't break any law, he was just intentionally commited an act of accident. What a joke. And when he phoned his boss, Abhisit, I think he must have accidentally told his boss that he is going to accidentally walk across the border into Cambodia. So whatever that was, it was all just an accident. Now why can't Cambodian border guards shot and kill those 7Thai trasspassers and call it an accident. Hey..it's not their fault, it's accident fault.
11:54 AM, well put. Panich's action can only be described as 'intentional accident'. Yes, in the video he telephoned someone to tell Thai PM Abhisit that he and his group has just crossed into Cambodian territory and he asked the person at the other end of the phone to tell the Thai PM not to tell anybody about it. The picture and the video show that Panich and his 6 other colleagues walked at ease through a Cambodian village, posing for photos as souvenirs. If it was an accident, they would have hurried back to Thai territory, but instead they walked with ease, taking photos and filming. So, this is what we called 'intentional accident'.
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