Details sought on 'secret' meetings [between Cambodian and Thai deputy PMs on oil-sharing]

By The Nation
Published on September 3, 2011

Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul (pictured) said yesterday he would ask Phnom Penh for more information on reported secret meetings on maritime resources in the Gulf of Thailand in 2009 and 2010 between then Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and his Cambodian counterpart.

"I will contact Cambodia to get more information on what Suthep said on the matter, and I will relay that information to the public," Surapong told reporters.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra instructed Surapong to examine the issue after the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority said in a statement Tuesday that Suthep had attempted to cut a secret deal on maritime resources in the two countries' overlapping claims area in the Gulf.

According to Tuesday's statement, Suthep held secret meetings with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in Hong Kong and Kunming, China, in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

The Democrat Partyled government of Abhisit Vejjajiva announced in November 2009 that a 2001 memorandum of understanding on the issue signed during former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's administration would be scrapped. The announcement followed Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's appointment of Thaksin as his adviser.

Surapong said he wanted to know why Abhisit instructed Suthep to talk with Sok An in Kunming in 2010, after the decision to scrap the MOU had been announced.

The MOU itself was never formally abandoned, as Abhisit's government did not officially inform Phnom Penh of the decision. "Why did Abhisit's government simply talk, and not take action? This has confused the public. I beg Suthep and Abhisit to explain what they did," Surapong said.

Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said Suthep's meetings with Sok An were unofficial, but not secret. There was nothing to hide regarding the meetings, he said.

"Everything [related to a possible deal] ended with the renunciation of the MOU," he said, adding that the meeting in 2010 was held simply so that the officials could get to know each other.

"We welcome this scrutiny. I challenge the minister to carry on and I would do the same, so that the public can understand what went wrong with this MOU and why we had to renounce it," Chavanond said.