Thai Navy apologizes for flying into Khmer territory

The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com

Wed, August 19, 2009

This is the first time Thai aircraft flied into Cambodian land

Phnom Penh - Cambodia has received a letter of apology from the commander of a Thai airbase apologizing for a series of Thai air force flights that crossed into Cambodian territory in the past week, local media reported.

A Cambodian general told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that the commander of Thailand's Chantaburi-Trat airbase, whom he did not name, had written that the incidents were due to bad weather affecting the navigation systems of the aircraft.

"We accepted the letter of apology by the Thai military but we have warned Thailand's airbase that we will not take responsibility for a second repeated airspace violation," General Bun Seng said .

The general said incursions usually took place over disputed areas on the border between the two nations, but said this time Thai aircraft had flown 30 kilometres inside Cambodia.

"This is the first time they have flown so far into Cambodian territory," he said.

A spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government accepted the apology, but warned that subsequent incursions would "be dangerous."

Cambodia and Thailand have a longstanding dispute over their 804-kilometre common border.

In the past year several Cambodian and Thai soldiers have been killed and injured in skirmishes around Preah Vihear temple on the border in the north of Cambodia