Defence Minister confident five Thais detained in Cambodia will be free soon

BANGKOK, Jan 15 -- Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan urged all parties to be patient and expressed confidence that all seven Thais detained in Phnom Penh since late last year would be released soon as the Cambodian authorities understood that they were not ill-intentioned people.

Gen Prawit said the defence ministry was not idle regarding the jailed Thais, but said it had done its best and explored options to help them.

He said the ministry had given its full attention at the beginning to help the seven Thais. After Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva assigned the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence to coordinate with Cambodian authorities to help the Thai detainees, the talks between the top military officials of both countries were already going on.

He urged all parties to be patient and said he believed all seven Thais would be released soon.

"Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defence Tea Banh and I have been in contact and discussed the matter. We are neighbouring countries. We should talk, so don't worry. The bilateral committees at the government-to-government and ministry levels have still contact each other," he said.

He also denied the accusation that the Thai military at the border have taken no action because they had received payoffs on the border.

The minister warned against spreading the accusation and accepting it without any evidence as it could damage other people.

Gen Prawit said he would ask the Ministry's Judge Advocate General's Department to determine if legal action can be taken against the accusers.

The army chief said that the soldiers are Thais too and they love their country just like other Thais.

The so-called Thailand Patriots Network (TPN) group claimed that senior Thai military officers were somehow profiting from the border troubles and criticised their slow action in helping the detainees.

On Friday, TPN activists rallied at Thailand's defense ministry, calling for the resignation of the prime minister, Foreign Affairs Minister Kasit Piromya and Gen Prawit.

They charged that senior military officers chose to stay idle regarding the jailed Thais as they believed the seven were on Thai soil when they were taken into custody by the Cambodian authorities and that several Thai military officers had received payoffs on the border.

Chaiwat Sinsuwong, leader of the Thailand Patriots Network, said Saturday that the group viewed that the government and the military ignored helping the Thais and failed to protect Thai territory, which they believed could put Thailand at risk of losing territory in the future.

The network, therefore, will march from Government House where they will rally to the Palace to submit a petition to His Majesty the King on Tuesday (Jan 18) at 9.59am asking for help.

The network would discuss later whether to stop their demonstration after submitting their petition and would decide later whether to go to Sa Kaeo province on the Cambodian border.
The Thais were captured by Cambodian soldiers on Dec 29.

At present, five are still in custody and have been denied bail by the Cambodian court while two, including Panich Vikitsreth, an MP representing Bangkok and member of the ruling Democrat Party, have been released on bail but are not allowed to leave the country, as they must attend court hearings when they take place.

The detainees face two initial charges -- illegal entry into the Cambodian kingdom, with possible punishment of three to six months jail and deportation, and also trespass on a Cambodian military zone, punishable by three to six months jail and Bt7,500-15,000 in fines.

Veera Somkwamkid, leader of the Thai Patriots Network, and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, however, face additional spying charges on top of illegal entry and trespassing on a Cambodian military area, which has been already heard.