New Politics: Govt not doing enough

via CAAI

Published: 5/01/2011

The fate of the seven Thais being held in Cambodia is worrying because the government is not working as a cohesive unit to help them, New Politics Party secretary-general Suriyasai Katasila said on Wednesday.

Mr Suriyasai said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Foreign Ministry and the army had different sets of facts.

"The prime minister's stance on the seven detained Thais is inconsistent and this could benefit the Cambodian authorities.

"The lawyer hired by the Thai government could be confused about the government's stance and there might not be enough weight to fight the case," the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy coordinator said.

He expected Cambodia would take the verdict in the court case to the International Court of Justice to justify its stand on the disputed border areas.

"Cambodia will use the ruling to protect its people who are intruding into many areas of Thailand, without considering the facts and the arguments presented by the Thai government," he said.

He called on the government to clearly tell Cambodia that the seven Thais had not intruded into Cambodian territory.

If Thailand applied the same principle as Cambodia, the government would be able to arrest many Cambodians who had illegally entered the country, he said.

"The probability of the release of seven Thais by the Cambodian court is low. It is not unexpected that Prime Minister Hun Sen refuses to accept calls from Thai authorities at this time," Mr Suriyasai said.

After the court hands down its verdict, the Cambodian government would likely wait for the Thai government to seek the defendants' release, he said. The Thai side would then be at a disadvantage and would accept the conditions proposed by Cambodia, he said.

New Politics is the new parliamentary arm of the yellow-shirt Peoples Alliance for Democracy, but has no MPs yet. One of the PAD's leaders is among those arrested.