Thai FM: [Suspected Thai spy] Ratree to be pardoned Feb 1

Published: 11/01/2013 
Bangkok Post

BANGKOK - The Cambodian government has informed the Thai foreign minister that a royal pardon for Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, one of two Thais jailed in Cambodia for espionage and illegal entry, will take effect on Feb 1, 2013.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, left, shakes hands with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Dec 29, 2011. (EPA photo)

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said on Friday that the government will ask Ratree's family how many people will travel to Phnom Penh to receive her. The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh will then coordinate with the Cambodian authorities.

He said the Cambodian government is also expected to make an official announcement on reducing Veera Somkwamkid's prison sentence on Friday afternoon.

"I would like to thank Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on this occasion and I would like to express my gratitude for King Norodom Sihamoni's compassion for the two Thais," the minister said.

On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry of Cambodia issued a press statement saying Prime Minister Hun Sen instructed the Cambodian Justice Ministry to consider reducing the prison term for Veera and granting a royal pardon to Ratree, on the occasion of the royal cremation of former king Norodom Sihanouk. The cremation has been set for Feb 4.

According to the statement, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asked the Cambodian premier during the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh in November last year to consider pardoning the two imprisoned Thais. She made the same request on Thursday.

Veera and Ratree were arrested along with five other Thais, including then-Democrat Party MP Panich Vikitsreth, on Dec 29, 2012 while "inspecting" a disputed border zone near Sa Kaeo's Ban Nongchan area.

Veera, who had previously been deported from Cambodia for illegal entry, was sentenced to eight years in prison and Ratree to six years.

Earlier, Cambodia refused to consider Thailand's request to pardon them because the pair must have served at least two thirds of their imprisonment before becoming eligible for a pardon.

Veera Somkwamkid, right, and his assistant, Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, sit in a room of Cambodia's Appeal Court in Phnom Penh on Dec 28, 2011. (© 2011 Mai Vireak/AP)