Cambodian court decision over 7 Thais not affect Thai territory: Thai PM

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday reaffirmed that Cambodian court's verdict on the arrested seven Thai will not lead to possible loss of Thai territory since it has legal binding effect only on individual.

The Thai premier made remarks after the pro-establishment People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), dubbed"yellow-shirt" movement, claimed Thailand may lose some of its land to its neighboring Cambodia if it accepts the Cambodian court ruling on the case of the seven detainees.

Abhisit stated that the court ruling will affect only the litigants and it's considered an individual issue, on a case by case basis, not as part of the border problems.

"If so, we can arrest a foreigner and then the defendant confesses, it means his country will lose territory," noted the PM, adding "we must wait and see the court verdict first. The matter will not be prolonged,"a local media quoted him as saying.

The Thai premier advised the critics to let concerned officials do their jobs. "We won't talk about legal aspects which can bring more damage," he said.

Following opposition Puea Thai accusations that the premier conspired with the detained Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth, Abhisit affirmed he had assigned Panich to respond to the complaints of local residents at the border, but he asserted that the incident occurred unexpectedly.

The seven Thais were arrested by Cambodian soldiers as they inspected the border area on Dec. 29 last year.

The Cambodian court finished the first hearing on Thursday. They were facing two charges -- illegal entry into Cambodian territory and illegally entering a military base; crimes which in Cambodia carry penalties of up to six months and one year respectively, and fine from one to two million Cambodian riels ( 250 U.S. dollars to 500 U.S. dollars).

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, although its primary entrance lies in Thailand and the exact boundary through the surrounding grounds remains in dispute, with occasional military skirmishes claiming a number of lives.

Source: Xinhua