(Posted by CAAI News Media)
BANGKOK, Nov 14 (TNA) -- The Thai government is preparing evidence to help facilitate the release of a Thai engineer held in Cambodia on charges of spying on fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and is prepared to evacuate Thai citizens from that country if the diplomatic row worsens, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Saturday.
Meanwhile, international new agencies reported that Mr Thaksin left Cambodia early Saturday for an undisclosed destination.
Reiterating that detained 31-year-old Siwarak Chothipong is not a spy as charged by the Cambodian government, Mr Suthep told journalists that flight information on Mr Thaksin’s journey to Cambodia on Tuesday was not secret as his chartered flight had asked the Aviation Department and the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand for advance permission to fly over Thai airspace.
After learning that the plane had Mr Thaksin aboard, the Thailand refused to allow it permission to pass through Thai airspace because he was convicted and also facing charges of threatening national security, said Mr Suthep.
The deputy prime minister said that Thailand would use the evidence to defend Mr Siwarak but the government wouldn’t intervene in Cambodia’s judicial system. Initially, Samart Corp, Mr Siwarak’s employer, sent a lawyer to assist him.
If the diplomatic spat between the two neighbouring countries worsens, the Thai government is prepared to evacuate its citizens from that country, he added.
According to Cambodian police, Mr Siwarak is accused of supplying the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh with details of Mr Thaksin’s flight schedule. Cambodia expelled the first secretary of Thailand’s embassy in Phnom Penh on Thursday, the same day the engineer was apprehended.
The Bangkok government also reciprocated, expelling Cambodia’s first secretary from Bangkok.
Mr Thaksin arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday and, according to reports by international news agencies, departed the tourist hub of Siem Reap by hia private jet early Saturday. His destination was not known. (TNA)
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