Top: Thai Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and (bottom) the grounded plane.
MUNICH, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- Germany seized Thailand's Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn's airplane, arguing that the Asian country has an unpaid debt to a German construction company, Germany's The Local reported Wednesday.Werner Schneider, the insolvency administrator for the Walter Bau construction group is demanding over 30 million Euro ($42.4 million) from the Thai government because a payment was allegedly never received when German construction firm Dywidag helped build a 26-kilometer (16.2-mile) road between Bangkok, Thailand and the city's airport over 20 years ago.
Dywidag later merged with Walter Bau in 2001, and in 2005, Walter Bau went under and was soon partially acquired by an Austrian company.
The government of Germany has tried to recover the funds from the Thai government on a number of occasions, but they have been unsuccessful. Schneider told the media outlet that impounding the aircraft was a drastic measure but "virtually the last resort."
The seized plane is a Boeing 737 - which are listed between $56.9 million to $85.8 million, depending on the model. The aircraft is usually used by Thailand's Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, who also flies the aircraft himself on occasions.
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Thai Crown Prince’s plane impounded in Germany amid dispute over building project
BERLIN — A plane being used by Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has been impounded in Germany as part of a long-running battle with the Thai government over payments for a building project in Thailand, officials said Wednesday.
The Boeing 737 “Royal Flight” was seized on a court order, and is now being kept at Munich airport, said Robert Wilhelm, a spokesman for the airport.
( Schneider, Geiwitz & Partner / Associated Press ) - This photo dated July 12, 2011, provided by liquidator company Schneider, Geiwitz and Partner on Wednesday, July 13, 2011, shows the seal of a bailiff on the door of a grounded Boeing 737 of the Royal Thai Air Force at the airport in Munich. Officials say the plane being used by Thailand’s Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn has been impounded in Germany as part of a long-running battle over payments for a building project in Thailand, and Munich airport spokesman Robert Wilhelm said Wednesday July 13, 2011, that the Boeing 737 “Royal Flight” was seized on a court order, and is now immobilized and sealed at the airport.
Vajiralongkorn, the heir to the Thai throne, is an experienced pilot and a frequent visitor to Germany, putting him in the middle of a long-running business dispute between the two countries.
A spokesman for the bankruptcy administrator of German construction firm Walter Bau AG said the plane was seized Tuesday because of the Thai government’s refusal to pay €30 million ($42 million) it owes the company.
The Thai government owes the now-bankrupt builder the money under a contract agreed to more than 20 years ago to build and operate a toll highway to Bangkok’s Don Muang airport, Alexander Goerbing said.
The “drastic measure” of seizing the Royal Thai Air Force’s plane amounts to “the last resort” to secure the payment, a claim that courts and a ruling by an international arbitration panel in 2009 have declared legitimate, he added.
The Crown Prince regularly uses the state-owned plane, and the German bankruptcy administrator apparently had been working for some time to get it impounded.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry said “we regret the inconveniences for the Crown Prince resulting from the impounding.” The ministry did not elaborate.
Government planes usually have diplomatic status — making them mostly off-limit to the judiciary of foreign countries — but that only holds when they are traveling on official purpose, not private trips.
“The search for the plane was very complicated and of course had to be carried out in a discreet manner to avoid giving any warnings,” the administrator, Werner Schneider, said in a statement.
Vajiralongkorn, 58, is the designated heir to the Thai throne, now held by his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is in poor health.
The 83-year-old is revered by most Thais for his dedication to public service, but Vajiralongkorn has not yet had a chance to earn the same level of respect. A qualified military pilot with the Air Force rank of Air Chief Marshal, in recent years he has also learned to pilot civilian craft. However, his personal life, which includes three marriages, is sometimes the subject of gossip.
Wilhelm, the Munich airport spokesman, said the Crown Prince had traveled to the southern German city aboard the Boeing 737, but there was no immediate word on his current whereabouts. The Thai embassy in Berlin could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Crown Prince’s plane stood idle on the airport grounds Wednesday, with photos showing the court order “against the Kingdom of Thailand represented by the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva” affixed to the plane’s door, forbidding “any change, use or reduction of the (plane’s) value.”
In an unrelated case, Schneider’s office in 2005 used a court order to impound a plane.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
6 comments:
Cambodia's government needs to becareful when doing oil business with Thailand. Dont let Thailand take advantage of you. They tried with German company that is why the airplane was seized.
The aircraft (pictured) is inaccurately depicted as Boeing 737.
That plane is a Canadair CL-600.
this Dude, looked sick wit HIV.
That's what happened when you have been living in the fox hole for so long, you can't understand the international laws.
All they know, the royal family can do whatever they wanted in Thailand and they get use to it. They forget that they are in other country now.
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