Thailand, Cambodia to reinstate envoys as Thaksin quits role

via Khmer NZ

24 August 2010

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia and Thailand are to reinstate their ambassadors after fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra resigned on Monday from a controversial role as economics adviser to Phnom Penh.

Cambodia said Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term for corruption, had stepped down "because of personal difficulties in fulfilling his role completely".

"The Cambodian government accepts the request by His Excellency Thaksin Shinawatra with thanks to the contributions that he has made to the Cambodian economy," a statement said.

Thailand will send its ambassador back to Phnom Penh on Tuesday in light of the resignation, said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

In Phnom Penh, foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Cambodia was ready to dispatch its ambassador back to Bangkok once Thailand's envoy returns.

The two countries recalled their ambassadors in November last year after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen riled Thailand by appointing telecoms tycoon-turned-premier Thaksin to the advisory role.

Thaksin remains an influential and controversial figure on Thailand's turbulent political scene, galvanising his "Red Shirt" supporters earlier this year to join mass protests against the current government.

Ties between the two countries have been strained since July 2008 by a series of deadly border clashes over land surrounding an 11th century Cambodian temple after it was granted UN World Heritage status.

The two countries have stepped up a war of words over the territorial spat recently, with Hun Sen warning it could lead to fresh bloodshed.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the resignation was not related to the Cambodia-Thai border dispute, explaining that the former premier had resigned because he was "busy with a lot of work".

"This is not a compromise," he told AFP.

Twice-elected Thaksin fled Thailand in 2008 before he was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail.

Thai courts have issued a series of warrants for the ex-premier for charges including terrorism - an accusation linked to the Red Shirt protests.

The mass demonstrations in Bangkok descended into several bouts of bloodshed in April and May that left 91 people dead - mostly civilians - and some 1,900 injured, in a series of clashes between armed troops and protesters.

The Red Shirts, largely from Thailand's impoverished north and northeast, love Thaksin for his populist policies, and accuse Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government of being an unelected elite.

The tycoon's opponents in the Bangkok-based circles around the palace, military and bureaucracy accuse Thaksin of being corrupt, dictatorial and a threat to Thailand's widely revered monarchy.