via Khmer NZ
Prison visit goes ahead as bilateral ties warm
Published: 27/08/2010
Thailand is pledging to resume 1.4billion baht in assistance to Cambodia for a road development project in a further sign that ties between the two countries are returning to normal.
Thailand froze the loan shortly after Phnom Penh appointed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government in November.
The soft loan will be spent on upgrading Road 68 from Kralanh to Samrong and O'Samach in Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday the aid would soon be resumed and people from the two countries would get back on track in terms of trade, tourism and investment.
Thailand and Cambodia normalised diplomatic ties when Thai ambassador Prasas Prasasvinitchai returned to Phnom Penh on Monday and Cambodia sent its ambassador to Thailand, You Aye, to Bangkok on Tuesday.
Thailand is now seeking the release of three Surin natives being held at the prison in Siem Reap.
Their families visited them yesterday amid hopes they will be freed within days.
It was the first time the three villagers have seen their families since they were arrested last Wednesday in O'Samach in Oddar Meanchey, opposite Surin, for entering Cambodia illegally and carrying weapons without permission.
The trip was arranged by officials in Surin who yesterday took seven family members across the border through Khlong Luek border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district.
Cambodian officials there arranged a van to take them to Siem Reap prison, about 150km away.
Prison staff took the villagers to see their family members and Thai officials.
The three were safe and happy on learning they would be returned to Thailand in the next three to four days.
Surin governor Raphee Phongbuphakit said the three Thais were awaiting paperwork from Siem Reap authorities before being released.
Lam Wongcharoen, mother of Sanong Wongcharoen, one of the three villagers, thanked Cambodia for allowing the families to visit them.
She said she would not let her son gather wild products in the forest again after he was freed. The other two being held are Lim Puangpet and Lan Sapsri.
Deputy spokesman for foreign affairs Thani Thongphakdi said Thai diplomats from the embassy in Phnom Penh visited the three on Wednesday.
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