Luxury Travel Group Promotes 3 Countries One Destination – Luxury Indochina Travel

One ancient Indochina and 3 new faces Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos today, Luxury Travel promote 3 countries, one destination. (www.LuxuryTravelVietnam.com)

These three fascinating countries have both their diverse cultures and beautiful landscapes. Each of them has been subjected to social, political and economic turmoil over the past decades and they are ready to open its doors to the world and show us their hidden treasures.

Discover Indochina right now in 21 days, Luxury Travel Company take you to discover the best of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Indochinese journey starts from either the colonial Hanoi or the bustling Saigon, Vietnam, they fly to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Luang Phabang with it famous temples and King Palace on the bank of Mekong River.

http://www.luxurytravelvietnam.com/EN/Indochina_tours/indochina_revealed.htm

Travelers fly from Vientiane to Phnom Penh the colonial of the Kingdom of Cambodia where you will discover the Silver Pagoda and the majestic Royal Palace, Khmer Art Museum.

The Indochina loop should be not complete if you could not visit the ancient capital Seam Reap with the huge Angkor Wat complex of temples, pagodas, ancient walls that reflect a glory of former Khmer Empire.

“We also aim to appreciate the multitude of local cultural traditions-wandering the many colorful markets, street stalls, exploring the tranquil villages along the banks of the Mekong and gaining perspectives across a rural landscape that has yet be down into the 21st century” said Lee Thais, Marketing and Pr Executive of Luxury Travel Group Company.

Visit www.luxurytravelvietnam.com or www.LuxuryIndochinaTravel.Com Read more!

Thai-Cambodia JBC meeting next week

The Thai-Cambodia Joint Border Committee (JBC) will meet on Nov 27 at 28 at the Dusit Thani hotel in Pattaya, defence ministry spokesman Col Thanathip Saengsawang said on Friday.

“It will be a ministerial level defence meeting to discuss border security and military cooperation,” Col Thanathip said.

Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon would use his ties with Cambodian military leaders to help ease the current tension between the two countries.

The spokesman said that military relations between the two countries remain intact despite the diplomatic row between Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

The Defence Ministry hopes to help settle the dispute between the two governments and at the same time to strengthen ties and trust on both sides, Col Thanathip said.

Read more!

Ecstasy factories destroyed in Cambodian rainforests

PHNOM PENH, Ten ecstasy laboratories operated by local drug cartels were destroyed Wednesday in one of Cambodia's most impenetrable and remote jungle areas in the country's southwest Cardamom Mountains, according to a statement released Friday by Wildlife Alliance.

The raid was carried out by an anti-drug task force led by Wildlife Alliance and in close cooperation with forest rangers from Cambodia's armed services and Ministry of Environment.

"At least 35 tons of safrole oil, a main ingredient used in the methamphetamine production of ecstasy, could have been used to make over five million ecstasy pills with a street value of over 100 million U.S. dollars," according to local officials.

Wildlife Alliance-sponsored ranger team from Cambodia's Ministry of Environment and managed by Fauna and Flora International, came across the ecstasy labs several months ago during a routine foot patrol through Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, 200 miles northwest of Phnom Penh.

Wildlife Alliance Technical Advisor and former French Legionnaire, Eduard Lefter, who planned the complex and dangerous raid with Cambodian Forest Rangers, commented on the operation, saying "The mission was very difficult to organize and the conditions extremely tough. The mountain terrain and dense forest made a helicopter insertion virtually impossible, so we went in by foot."

According to Lefter, the team spent 12 days in the jungle battling leeches and the resulting wound infections, as well as skirting landmines which made forward progress extremely difficult. By the end of the mission much of Lefter's ranger teams were suffering from dehydration from dwindling water supplies.

The teams also carried explosive ordnance in the form of landmines, provided by the Cambodian Military, to destroy the ecstasy labs and safrole distillation equipment.

Read more!

Thai, Cambodian military leaders to meet

BANGKOK, Thai and Cambodian military leaders will meet next week amid growing tensions over Phnom Penh's appointment of a fugitive former Thai premier as an adviser.

The Thai-Cambodia Joint Border Committee will have a two-day meeting starting Nov. 27 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Pattaya, according to a report in the Bangkok Post newspaper.

"It will be a ministerial level defense meeting to discuss border security and military cooperation," a Thai defense ministry spokesman said. Defense Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwon would use his ties with Cambodian military leaders to help ease the current tension between the two countries, the spokesman said.

The meeting is important because it could avoid spontaneous armed clashes by patrols in the Preah Vihear mountains, around 300 miles north of Bangkok. The two armies have been facing each other for months over a disputed area surrounding an 11th-century Hindu temple. The international court of justice ruled in 1962 that the temple was on Cambodian land. But the only access to the mountaintop building is on the Thai side, which Thai troops sealed off last summer.

A military clash is precisely what both countries, whose ambassadors were recalled this month over the Thaksin affair, are hoping to avoid.

But political tensions moved up a notch Thursday when Cambodian police and aviation experts took over the offices of the Thai-owned firm Cambodia Air Traffic Services. CATS is a subsidiary of Bangkok's Samart Corporation which has a 32-year contract to run air traffic control operations.

The Cambodian authorities now in charge of the services also banned the firm's nine Thai employees from entering the building.

The takeover comes after Cambodian police arrested a Thai national working at CATS on spy allegations. Siwarak Chotipong, 31, is being held in Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh. He is alleged to have passed on the flight schedule of the former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during his visit to Cambodia last week, according to a report in the newspaper Phnom Penh News.

The newspaper article quoted a representative for Cambodia's ruling Council of Ministers saying the takeover of CATS was "temporary" and done "to ensure national security and public safety." The financial operations of the company would not be affected.

Cambodia's appointment of Thaksin as an economic adviser was covered widely in the country's media this month, including a television interview with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thaksin. Hun has called Thaksin a friend of Cambodia.

Thailand has formerly requested the extradition of Thaksin, 60, who was ousted from power in a military coup in 2006. He returned in 2007 and the following year received a two-year jail sentence for conflict of interest in high-level business dealings. He fled the country, leaving an estimated $2 billion in frozen assets. He has since lived mostly in the United Kingdom.

Cambodia has refused to hand him over because, they say, his trial was political and not criminal, meaning they are not bound to extradite him under any bilateral treaty.

Analysts are saying that the issue of his return is, in fact, more political than just a case of evading prison. Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, 45, is a member of the Democrat Party and heads a large coalition government that fears Thaksin could pose a credible election threat if he returns to the country. Thaksin, as a former police officer, could call in favors among senior policemen and also some military leaders in any election, possibly next year.

Many of Thaksin's supporters are in the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship Party that has demonstrated for Thaksin to receive a royal pardon from the ailing but much revered Thai king.

For his part, Thaksin has reportedly used his Twitter site to vent his anger at the Abhisit government and his opponents within Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported.

"Everything you guys do is right, but whatever we do is wrong. So how can we live together? How long can peace last?" He went on to say he did not believe how long it would be before his supporters' "patience will snap," the article stated.

The Bangkok Post has also reported that Thailand's Foreign Ministry has lodged a complaint with the ambassador of Dubai. Ministry officials said Thaksin is using Dubai as a base for political activities Thailand's government.

The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior has also this week ordered its officials to encrypt as much as possible government information and sensitive documents that it is sending over the Internet. The government fear is that more data, such as happened with Thaksin's fight details, could be siphoned off by spies, the Phnom Penh News report said. Read more!

Cambodia pulls out of military sports meet

By The Nation


A sporting event between Thai and Cambodian military personnel scheduled over the weekend has been postponed indefinitely due to the growing tensions between the two countries.

The postponement was initiated by Cambodian authorities, without stating any reasons, said Prawat Ratthairom, a deputy provincial governor of Si Sa Ket, the venue of the event.

He said the provincial authorities were just informed of the postponement by the Thai military.

A series of sports competitions between Thailand's Second Army Area and Cambodia's Fourth Military Precinct, both of which are responsible for duties along each country's borders, were scheduled to be held today and tomorrow at Phumi Srol School in Cambodia's Kanthararak district.

Meanwhile, a Cambodian immigrant worker was axed to death by a Thai worker in a drunken brawl in Chon Buri's Sri Racha district over the detention of a Thai national by Cambodian authorities for alleged spying.

The victim, known only as Tiang, was allegedly attacked by Silchai Namnont, local police said, citing Kraisorn Namnont, the suspect's brother. The three men, all helpers in a local rubber plantation, were drinking late on Thursday and started quarrelling over the detention of the Thai in Cambodia and other diplomatic strains in ties between the two countries.

Nong Kham police said a hunt was on for Silchai but his brother, Kraisorn, was in custody. Police were still questioning him, as they were suspicious that he also took part in the murder.

In Sa Kaew, a goodwill cerฌemony was held by Thai and Cambodian military personnel in Aranyaprathet district yesterday. Highranking commanders of both sides met in the middle of the ThaiCambodia Friendship Bridge and exchanged souvenirs and handshakes in a photo opportunity.

LtGeneral Kanit Saphithak, commander of Thailand's First Army Area, and General Sok Phiab, a deputy chief of Cambodia's joint supreme command, were the highestranking officers from both sides participating in the ceremony. They met without prior appointment while making inspection visits at their local Army units, after local forces on both sides managed to get them to meet each other.

Aranyaprathet border checkpoint and Khlong Luek border town are still open to visits by Cambodians while Thai nationals still visit casinos across the border and Cambodian vendors still enter Thailand and do their businesses at Rong Klue market despite a drop in the number of Thai shoppers.

Read more!

Khmer killed after quarrel with Thai

CHON BURI : A Thai rubber tapper allegedly killed his Cambodian co-worker with an axe after a drinking session in which they had a heated argument over the two countries' diplomatic spat.

The Cambodian worker was identified as Diang, aged about 40. Police found his body lying on the floor in a room of an apartment run by Sri Maha Racha Co, the men's employer.

Blood covered the floor of room No.2, where he lived. A cut about five centimetres deep was found on his left cheek and another on his left shoulder, which was almost severed. Several empty liquor bottles were found in the room along with a bloodstained axe.

Kraisorn Namnont, a rubber tapper who lived next to the Cambodian worker, alerted Si Racha police about the killing about half past midnight on Friday.

He said the murderer was Sinchai Namnont, 44, his younger brother. They were from the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham.

He said Mr Sinchai, who lived with him in room No.1, had been drinking with Diang in Diang's room. They started arguing about the Cambodian authorities' arrest of a Thai engineer for alleged spying. Earlier, Cambodia named convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic adviser.

Mr Kraisorn said he remembered hearing Mr Sinchai say it was not right for Cambodia to act in the way it had and Diang replying, "So, what can you do with my government?"

Shortly after that, Mr Sinchai rushed back to room No.1 to grab some of his clothes, then hurried out without saying anything about what had happened next door, said Mr Kraisorn.

After hearing Diang crying for help in pain, Mr Kraisorn decided to go to check on him but found him dead.

Police, however, said they were not convinced by Mr Kraisorn's testimony and suspected him of being involved in the murder of Diang in some way. Read more!

Vietnamese economy poses no threat to Thailand

Hanoi ensures existence of political stability and cheap labour

The Vietnamese economy poses no immediate threat to Thailand, which has healthy investments in that country, says the Thai ambassador in Hanoi.

Pisanu Chanvitan says Thailand's economy is still far more advanced than Vietnam's.

However, the ambassador told Thai Rath newspaper, Vietnam has certain advantages including political stability, thanks to its one-party rule and cheap labour.

Last year, Vietnam's economy grew 3%.

Mr Pisanu said that medical advances in Vietnam lag far behind Thailand. For difficult cases, well-to-do patients still travel to Thailand for treatment because Vietnam's health care expertise is lacking.

Nor was Thailand's status as the world's top rice exporter under threat from Vietnam.

Mr Pisanu said Vietnam exported about 5 million tonnes of rice last year while Thailand exported 8-9 million tonnes.

Thai rice is more expensive because of its higher quality especially the world famous Hom Mali, while Vietnam exports cheaper varieties.

Vietnam can face typhoons several times a year, causing extensive damage to rice fields.

Vietnam's rice cultivation area is similar to Thailand's, but Vietnam has a growing population. As its population grows, Vietnam will probably export less rice.

Vietnam's rulers like to talk about their plans for the economy, but sometimes these projects can be many years off.

Vietnam said it would put in a high-speed train, similar to the bullet train in Japan, running from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

The news excited Thai readers but most did not realise that work on the railway won't start until 2036, or nearly 30 years into the future.

In 1990, Vietnam began to open the country to foreign direct investment, creating special industrial zones and expanding the economic zone in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thailand is ranked 9th among foreign investors in Vietnam. Investment is concentrated in agri-business, cement, real estate, and motorcycle parts.

Mr Pisanu said Thailand exported more than 10,000 tonnes of fruit to Vietnam last year, including longan, mangosteen, durian and mango.

Food processing including canned fish is another bright prospect for Thai exporters. Several Thai canneries have set up operations in Vietnam and are doing good business.

Engineer is a

'political victim'

Sivarak Chutipong, 31, the Thai engineer arrested in Cambodia on a spying charge, is being used as a pawn in the diplomatic dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, argues a Matichon newspaper writer.

Sivarak worked for Cambodia Air Traffic Services, a subsidiary of Thailand's Samart Telecom.

He was arrested last week on a spying charge, after he allegedly transmitted the flight schedule of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodia's premier Hun Sen to Thailand.

The newspaper argues the engineer was a victim of the conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia concerning Hun Sen's appointment of Thaksin as economic adviser.

If Sivarak is found guilty by a Cambodian court, he could be jailed for 7-10 years and/or fined 50,000-250,000 baht.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Thaksin's flight schedule was not secret information and Thailand already knew Thaksin's likely flight movements.

Suthep argued that Cambodian authorities may have misunderstood the intention of the government, which never intended to inflict any harm.

Yet the Matichon writer was not satisfied with explanations offered by the Thai Foreign Ministry and Samart Telecom in defence of Sivarak.

The government, the writer said, should protect Sivarak's honour and tell international observers that Cambodia's allegations are trumped up.

Miscellany

Cambodia has expelled all Thai staff from Cambodia Air Traffic Services after a Thai engineer on staff was charged with spying.

Phnom Penh has filed national security charges of stealing classified information against engineer Sivarak Chutipong.

Cambodia has now ordered all Thai nationals working for CATS to leave the company and prohibited them from re-entering until the legal proceedings against Mr Sivarak are completed, Samart Corporation Plc president Watchai Wilailuck said.

CATS, a fully owned subsidiary of Bangkok-based Samart, holds a concession to run air traffic control services in Cambodia.

The firm employs nine Thai officials at Cambodian airport, in management or senior engineering positions. About 200 other staff are Cambodians.

Mr Watchai was told Cambodian authorities would send their own people to run the company.

"We need to follow Cambodia's order and are asking the Thai government to negotiate with Cambodia.

'We have nothing to do with their diplomatic dispute, but it is affecting our business," Mr Watchai said.

Thailand and Cambodia are signatories to an investment protection agreement, to protect each other's private businesses.

Read more!

Cambodia takes over Thailand-run company as row deepens

Cambodia has taken over the running of the country's Thai-owned air traffic control firm, in a deepening row between the two neighbouring countries.

Cambodia also barred all Thai employees from turning up for work and put a Cambodian national in temporary charge.

The move comes a day after a Thai engineer working for the firm in Phnom Penh was formally charged with spying.

It is said he passed on details of last week's flight to Cambodia by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Thaksin, who is wanted in Thailand to serve a jail sentence for corruption, spent five days in Cambodia in his new role as an economic adviser.

'Seizing firm'

On Thursday, the government in Phnom Penh appointed a senior Cambodian civil servant in temporary charge of Cambodia Air Traffic Services (Cats) - a Thai-owned and Thai-operated firm.

It also suspended all Thai nationals from performing their duties.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya urged Cambodia to respect bilateral deals, regulating the running of Cats.

"The ministry is waiting for reports from the Thai embassy and we will also have to get clarification from the Cambodian government. If it violates bilateral agreements, then we will find way to proceed," the minister told reporters.

"Cambodia is a market economy. Just seizing (a firm) would not seem right," he added.

Internal politics

Phnom Penh's move is said to be temporary pending the outcome of a legal case against a Thai engineer who works for the company, the BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok reports.

Siwarak Chothipong, 31, a Cats employee, was on Wednesday charged with spying.

He is currently under arrest, accused of passing the flight details of Mr Thaksin to a Thai diplomat.

Mr Thaksin's presence across the border infuriated the Thai government, which claims he should have been extradited to serve a two-year jail term.

The former Thai prime minister was ousted in a coup in 2006, and subsequently found guilty in absentia on conflict of interest charges.

Local newspaper reports in Thailand suggest the current Thai government and Mr Thaksin are now competing to offer help to the detained engineer and his family, our correspondent says.

Rachel Harvey adds that this is an indication that the row is as much about the internal politics of Thailand as it is about cross-border rivalries. Read more!

U.N. says Cambodian troops to aid in Chad

N'DJAMENA, Chad, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Thursday 42 Cambodian troops have arrived in Chad to provide security and humanitarian help there and in the Central African Republic.

The United Nations said in a release that in addition to facilitating humanitarian aid in the African countries, the Cambodian troops will help protect civilians and help in the relocation of U.N. personnel and logistic assets.

The eastern portion of Chad is serving as a refuge for 160,000 displaced Chad residents and nearly 250,000 refugees from the Sudan's Darfur region,.

A number of refugees also fled armed conflict in Darfur in the northern part of the Central African Republic.

The United Nations has been helping the refugees since 2005.

The international organization said equipment difficulties encountered by some participating countries have left the U.N. mission operating at 53 percent of its authorized strength, or 2,750 troops. Read more!

Thailand and Cambodia are not enemies : Panitan

By The Nation


Thailand should re-establish diplomatic ties with Cambodia for the country's interest, it was agreed at yesterday's seminar on bilateral ties.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, the caretaker government spokesman, said that the current spat between the two countries was merely political. The two countries were no enemies and there should be no concern of a war between them, he added.

"The relationships in other aspects, including trade and investment, remain unchanged. At present, Thailand is Cambodia's seventh largest trading partner," he said.

He was speaking at a panel discussion on "Stop, pull in or open a battle: Thai-Cambodian ties amidst the Thai political conflict", which was organised at Chulalongkorn University.

Panitan, formerly a lecturer at the university, said the current conflict required cooperation from the two countries in order to solve it in a diplomatic way.

Former deputy prime minister Chaturon Chaisang said during the panel discussion that the new round of conflict was caused by "a severe wave of nationalism" in both countries.

"All the parties involved should find out a common solution in order to protect the country's interest," he said.

Chaturon, an ally of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, said the government's decision to cancel a bilateral agreement on maritime overlapping area with Cambodia would cause Thailand to lose rather than gain. He said it was a wrong strategy to freeze Thailand's aid to Cambodia.

Surachai Sirikrai, a political science lecturer at Thammasat University, agreed that Thailand should retain good ties with Cambodia at a time when East Asian is consolidating economically.

"But the problem is that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has interfered with Thailand's politics, which is against the rules of Asean," he said.

The academic said it appeared Hun Sen appointed Thaksin as his government's economic adviser intentionally to coincide with Cambodia's renewed border conflict with Thailand involving the listing of the Preah Vihear temple ruins as a Unesco World Heritage site.

General Waipoj Srinuan, former deputy permanent secretary of the Defence Ministry, told the seminar that Thailand should prevent the conflict with Cambodia from expanding and try to normalise the relationships with the neighbouring country.

He blamed Thailand's "weak foreign policies" for Cambodia's latest "attack" on the country's politics.

The retired general said that Cambodia, which has long been viewed as undeveloped, appeared to be trying to win acceptance from the world community.

He asked Thailand not to use developed countries' bullying tactic with Cambodia but instead should treat the neighbouring country with respect. "To bully them will cause the conflict to expand," he said. Read more!

PM: Cambodia, Jatuporn sharing info

The Cambodian government and opposition Puea Thai Party MP Jatuporn Prompan could be sharing information, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday.

United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) core member Jatuporn earlier claimed that he had an audio tape of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya ordering the Thai embassy's first secretary, Kamrob Palawatwichai, to find out Thaksin's flight schedule.

"I believe Mr Jatuporn and Cambodia have constantly been in contact. I hope the person behind this will regain a sense of conscience and won't trade off the country's interests to Cambodia," the prime minister said.

"If Thaksin crosses the border into Thailand through the Northeast, he must be face his punishment if the law is to be preserved."

He said the government had no intention of playing political games with the red-shirts, and he was confident the UDD's anti-government rallies would not turn violent.

"I believe the UDD's plan to topple the government by Dec 3 will not succeed, because people want peace," he said. "The government will evaluate the situation again before deciding whether to apply the Internal Security Act during the protests."
Read more!

Spread of artemisinin resistance may hinder efforts to control malaria

As resistance to the antimalarial drug artemisinin increases, efforts to control malaria may be threatened, according to experts who spoke at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's 58th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Currently, the bulk of artemisinin resistance has been observed near the border between Cambodia and Thailand. But experts are warning that it could soon spread throughout Southeast Asia, hampering malaria control efforts in the region and elsewhere.

"Artemisinin combination therapies are the most rapidly and reliably effective treatments for malaria caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which is responsible for the vast majority of malaria-related illnesses and deaths," Pascal Ringwald, MD, director of antimalarial drug resistance surveillance at WHO, said. "The loss of artemisinin derivatives to resistance could have a devastating effect on health in tropical countries and would threaten current global efforts to eliminate malaria."

Ringwald said WHO officials first noticed evidence of artemisinin resistance in Cambodia and Thailand after receiving reports about increases in clearance times in patients with malaria treated with artemisinin combination therapies. "These drugs are designed to kill the parasites within 24 to 48 hours, but we are finding that it sometimes takes four or five days to kill them," Ringwald said. "In some studies, half of the parasites are not killed within 72 hours after the beginning of treatment, which indicates a growing resistance problem."

Ringwald added that artemisinin resistance is particularly problematic because there are few antimalarial drugs currently in development that could, if necessary, replace artemisinin in terms of effectiveness.

However, Ringwald also stressed that although artemisinin resistance is a growing concern and health officials are monitoring of the situation, the "vast majority" of patients with malaria throughout the world are still being treated and cured with artemisinin-based therapies.

Read more!

Cambodia strains ties even more

All Thai staff banned from air traffic office

Cambodia intensified the diplomatic spat with Thailand yesterday when authorities in Phnom Penh expelled all Thai officials from their offices at Cambodia Air Traffic Services.

The order by the Cambodian government came after Phnom Penh filed charges yesterday against Sivarak Chutipong, a Thai engineer working for CATS.

"Cambodia has charged him with stealing classified information affecting national security," said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, the secretary to the foreign minister.

The Cambodian government ordered Thai nationals working for CATS to immediately leave the company and prohibited them from re-entering until the legal proceedings against Mr Sivarak are completed, Samart Corporation Plc president Watchai Wilailuck said.

CATS, a fully owned subsidiary of Bangkok-based Samart, has been granted a 32-year air traffic control concession.

The firm employs nine Thai officials at the Cambodian airport, all of them either in management or senior engineering positions. About 200 other staff members are Cambodians.

Mr Watchai was told Cambodian authorities would send their own people to operate the company.

"We need to follow Cambodia's order and are asking the Thai government to help negotiate with the Cambodian government to solve the problem because it is affecting a private business which has nothing to do with the state dispute," Mr Watchai said.

Thailand and Cambodia are signatories to the Investment Protection Agreement to protect each other's private businesses.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the Foreign Ministry has been ordered to look into the problem of CATS.

Mr Sivarak was arrested on Nov 12 for allegedly obtaining confidential information about the flight details of convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and supplying it to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian government also expelled the embassy's first secretary, Kamrob Palawatwichai and Thailand retaliated with the same measure.

The 31-year-old detainee and the Thai Foreign Ministry have denied the accusations.

Deputy ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said the ministry was helping to find Mr Sivarak a lawyer. Cambodian law requires his legal representative to be a Cambodian national.

"The Thai side still believes in Cambodia's judicial process and hopes Phnom Penh will be fair to Mr Sivarak," Mr Thani said.

Thaksin wrote in his Twitter page yesterday he had contacted Cambodian leaders to find ways to help the Thai engineer being detained at Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh.

"I've been in touch with them. They said they would investigate first and will treat him fairly," he said in his posting.

Mr Abhisit refused to comment on the assistance by Thaksin to help secure the release of the engineer and said the government's actions had been helping to improve the situation for Mr Sivarak.

But Mr Sivarak's mother, Simarak na Nakhon Phanom, thanked Thaksin for his efforts to help secure the release of her son.

Deputy director-general of the Consular Affairs Department Madurapochana Ittarong was helping Mrs Simarak and Mr Sivarak's younger sister to obtain access to him in Phnom Penh.

Puea Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh also offered to help in talks with the Cambodian government.

Mr Thani said Gen Chavalit's offer was welcome.

The latest conflict between the Thai and Cambodian governments started last month when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made Thaksin an economic adviser to himself and to his government. Thailand was offended when Hun Sen said Thaksin's corruption case was politically motivated and refused to hand him over to Bangkok.

The fugitive prime minister left the Cambodian capital for Dubai on Saturday.

Puea Thai MP Jatuporn Prompan yesterday claimed the Cambodian government had an audio clip of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya ordering Mr Kamrob to seek the flight schedule of the ousted prime minister.

Read more!

Rare crocs found hiding in plain sight in Cambodia

By Michael Casey, Associated Press


BANGKOK — Conservationists searching for one of the world's most endangered crocodile species say they have found dozens of the reptiles lounging in plain sight — at a wildlife rescue center in Cambodia.

DNA taken from 69 crocodiles housed in the moats of the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center showed nearly 50% were Siamese crocodiles, which until recently were believed to have become extinct in the wild, researchers said Wednesday.

"For the first time in Cambodia, we have a captive population of animals that we know 100% are purebred Siamese crocodiles," said Adam Starr, who manages the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Program, a joint effort between the government and Fauna & Flora International. The Washington, D.C.-based conservation group Wildlife Alliance also took part.

Once common throughout Southeast Asia, the Siamese crocodile or crocodylus Siamensis is locally extinct in 99% of the areas it once roamed and is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Much of the wild population was wiped out by habitat loss and poaching.

Those left in the wild — thought to be less than 250, with nearly all in Cambodia and the rest in Indonesia and Vietnam — face the new threat of hydropower dams being built in two of their three known habitats in the country.

Starr said the discovery of the captive population would give conservationists new options for breeding and reintroducing the crocodiles into the wild, most likely in places not affected by the dams. He said up to 60 crocodiles a year could be released into areas where they once thrived.

DNA analysis, which was done at Thailand's Kasetsart University, is necessary because it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between Siamese crocodiles and the hybrid crocodile species that are also housed at the center.

Nhek Ratanapech, director of the wildlife center, said he was surprised to learn that so many of the crocodiles turned out to be pure Siamese.

"Before we conducted the DNA testing, we thought perhaps only three or four of them in the zoo were Siamese crocodiles," he said.

Siamese crocs are said to be a bit smaller at just under 10 feet (3.5 meters) than hybrids, and their snouts are shorter and wider.


Read more!

Thailand delays action on aid to Cambodia

By Pracha Hariraksapitak


BANGKOK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Thailand on Tuesday held back on further action against Cambodia -- which caused a diplomatic row by offering a job to fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- and welcomed the access it was given to a Thai accused of spying.

"There is still plenty of time to consider (cutting aid and loans). There is no need to hurry," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting.

The latest row between the neigbouring countries flared when Thaksin went to Cambodia last week after its prime minister, Hun Sen, offered him a job as an economic adviser. The Cambodian government rejected Bangkok's request to extradite him.

The two countries recalled their ambassadors and Cambodia arrested a Thai engineer working for Cambodia Air Traffic Services, accusing him of sending Thaksin's flight schedule to a Thai diplomat, who was expelled by Phnom Penh.

The arrest caused further uproar in Thailand, especially as embassy officials were initially denied access to the engineer.

A visit was finally allowed on Tuesday.

"It is a positive move on Cambodia's part to allow our representative to visit him," Abhisit said. "This gives us hope. We will continue to seek legal counsel for now and we believe we will be informed of formal charges soon."

The Thai government says the information the engineer was accused of giving the diplomat was publicly available.

AID MAY BE HIT

Earlier, Panitan Wattanayagorn, deputy secretary-general to Abhisit, said the cabinet could discuss various measures to be taken against Cambodia, including freezing low-interest loans to build roads.

Last week Thailand said it would scrap a 2001 memorandum of understanding on energy development in the Gulf of Thailand.

The agreement was signed under Thaksin's administration, with the aim of finding a way for the two countries to jointly develop oil and gas resources in disputed waters, although little progress has been made.

Thaksin left Cambodia on Saturday.

He spends most of his time in Dubai, having returned to self-imposed exile last year ahead of a court judgment that found him guilty of violating a conflict of interest law while in office and sentenced him to two years in jail.

After winning two landslide elections, Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006. He remains at the heart of a bitter political struggle in Thailand which has at various stages over the past four years scared off tourists and dismayed investors. (For an analysis on Thaksin's strategy, click [ID:nBKK461030]) (Writing by Ambika Ahuja; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jerry Norton)

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Hun Sen seeks to 'internationalise' spat

Thailand's domestic turmoil has been further complicated by the political tempest that blew through Bangkok from Phnom Penh last week. For the first time, the protracted Thai political crisis is no longer wholly domestic but has direct foreign bearings from next door.

In a flurry of seemingly orchestrated offensive manoeuvres, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has put the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on the back foot. Mr Hun Sen has achieved several objectives, whereas Mr Abhisit's government has yet to define what it wants out of the retaliatory spiral that has brought contemporary Thai-Cambodian relations to its nadir.

To be sure, Mr Hun Sen's deliberate provocation was designed and timed to rock the Abhisit government. It began with the Cambodian leader's invitation to. and warm reception of, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's visit to Phnom Penh in mid-October. At that time, Mr Hun Sen expressed sympathy for convicted and exiled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, hinting the latter could find refuge in Cambodia.

At the Asean Summit in Cha-am a week later, Mr Hun Sen's second move was to follow through with statements to the media indicating that Thaksin should be made an adviser to the Cambodian government.

The Cambodian strongman then returned to Phnom Penh to officially appoint Thaksin as government adviser on the economy.

The fourth move was to invite Mr Thaksin to give a talk last week. All of these moves took place just prior to the Apec leaders' meeting and the inaugural Asean-US summit, which Mr Abhisit was to preside over as Asean chair.

The Abhisit government was behind Mr Hun Sen's curve balls throughout. It should have sent clearer and louder signals that avoided unnecessary ridicule, insult, condescension and sarcasm.

Instead, Mr Abhisit's press conference in Cha-am warned Mr Hun Sen not to be used as a pawn by Thaksin. If the Cambodian ambassador failed to show up when summoned by the Thai government, clear signals should have been sounded as well.

By the time Mr Hun Sen appointed Thaksin, the Abhisit government went ballistic when it should have been measured and nuanced. It could have recalled the Thai ambassador for consultations before sending him back to Phnom Penh.

The intensity and rapidity of Bangkok's level of responses, including the revocation of a memorandum of understanding on overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand and suspension of aid and soft loans, made the Abhisit government appear flustered and blustered.

Moreover, it reflected the Abhisit government's misguided estimation of Thailand's leverage over Cambodia and betrays its own shortcomings, which were discussed in detail in Mr Hun Sen's long interview last week.

Indeed, Mr Hun Sen has not been nice but he may have had his reasons for not being nice to Mr Abhisit's government. And there appears little the Thai leader can do about it.

Unlike bygone years, new geopolitical realities now mean Bangkok is merely one among many in the pecking order of importance to Cambodia. China, Vietnam, Russia, Japan, and even South Korea have been instrumental players in Cambodia's economic development. The Thai government needs to accept Cambodia's status as an up-and-coming emerging economy after decades of war, conflict and tragedy, with more than its fair share of natural resources that beckons partners near and far, and relative political stability alongside democratic legitimacy to boot.

On the other hand, Mr Hun Sen has been pent up on a number of old scores, as his interview revealed. The Cambodian leader was miffed, of course, when Mr Abhisit appointed a foreign minister who publicly called him a gangster on a nationalist stage where Mr Hun Sen was a ping-pong ball. Mr Abhisit's misjudgement on his foreign minister choice, owing to his own miscalculation and/or pressure from his backers, doomed Thai-Cambodian relations from the outset.

Moreover, Mr Hun Sen viewed the Abhisit government's reneging on Cambodia's registration of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site as back-stabbing following Mr Abhisit's personal assurance that it could be discussed. The Abhisit government did little to rein in right-wing groups from demonstrating at Preah Vihear areas, some even demanding the return of the temple which belongs to Cambodia by international law.

The bilateral atmosphere was further poisoned by the Abhisit government's allowing Sam Rainsy, an opposition leader in Cambodian politics, to use a forum in Bangkok to attack Mr Hun Sen.

With the expulsion of a Thai diplomat and the arrest of a Thai engineer on spying charges, Mr Hun Sen has not flinched in the face of Thai retaliation. While he is settling old scores, Mr Hun Sen's persistence of harassment and taking sides in Thailand's deep-seated polarisation by allowing Thaksin to use Cambodia as a staging ground, would suggest that Phnom Penh is intent on carrying out this bilateral spat to its logical conclusion in regionalising and internationalising the Thai-Cambodian conflict.

Mr Hun Sen would have an edge not in bilateral dealings but in regional and international considerations, especially if the Abhisit government ratchets up retaliation and ends up with overreaction.

Mr Abhisit must now own up to his misjudgements.

A cabinet reshuffle is imperative. He should treat Mr Hun Sen with respect and appeal for Cambodia to stay out of Thai affairs like other countries, such as the United Kingdom and China, have done.

Most important, Mr Abhisit must come up with an overarching policy objective in order to locate and shape the political and diplomatic tools to achieve it. That objective should be to persuade Mr Hun Sen to not let Thaksin use Cambodian soil as his launch pad to battle his opponents. Read more!

Cambodia won't drop spy charges

Military tries personal appeal to free engineer

Thailand's hopes of a quick release for Sivarak Chutipong have been dashed.

Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh said the alleged spy will not be freed any time soon.

In a phone interview with the Bangkok Post, Gen Tea Banh said legal proceedings against the Thai engineer must be allowed to run their course.

Thai military chiefs, including Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, are using their communications channels with Gen Tea Banh to try and help the government secure the release of the Cambodia Air Traffic Services engineer who is being detained in Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison.

They hoped the general would convince Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to allow his release.
"I told them I am sorry but that it is not possible," Gen Tea Banh said. "Lawbreakers must face legal proceedings first. They must face investigations and will be taken to court. They cannot be let off scot-free.

"I don't know what to do. The law is there and Cambodia must stick to the law ... the judicial proceedings must be allowed to take their course. It's impossible to release him [Mr Sivarak] straight away."

Gen Tea Banh said Cambodian authorities had questioned Mr Sivarak and found allegations he illegally obtained information about fugitive former primer minister Thaksin Shinawatra's flight schedule had grounds.

Mr Sivarak was arrested on Thursday for allegedly obtaining confidential information about Thaksin's flight details and supplying it to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian government expelled the Thai embassy's first secretary Kamrob Palawatwichai in response.

Both Mr Sivarak and the Thai Foreign Ministry denied the allegations.

Mr Sivarak has not yet been formally charged, said Thani Thongphakdi, deputy spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.

After blocking several attempts to meet the detained Thai, Cambodian authorities yesterday allowed Chalotorn Phaovibul - the highest ranking diplomat at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh - and two other staff to visit Mr Sivarak for 30 minutes.

"He is in good condition and good spirits. He is also being well taken care of by Cambodian authorities," the deputy spokesman quoted Mr Chalotorn as saying.

Mr Chalotorn has been in charge of the Thai embassy since ambassador Prasas Prasasvinitchai was recalled in protest over Phnom Penh's appointment of Thaksin as an economic adviser.

Mr Sivarak spoke with his mother, Simarak na Nakhon Phanom, in Nakhon Ratchasima by phone after being given permission by prison authorities.

Mrs Simarak, who works at Nakhon Ratchasima Technical College, said she was happy to speak to her son for the first time since his arrest and to learn that he was safe.

She appealed to the government to quickly secure her son's release.

The deputy director-general of the Consular Affairs Department, Madurapochana Ittarong, yesterday visited Mrs Simarak in the northeastern province and offered to help her arrange a visit to see Mr Sivarak in Phnom Penh.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva applauded Cambodia's decision to allow Thai diplomats to visit Mr Sivarak in prison in accordance with international standards.

Mr Abhisit told Mrs Simarak the government would try its best to secure his release as soon as possible.

"The government hopes he will be released soon following proper legal procedures," Mr Abhisit said.

Thaksin said on thaksinlive.com, his internet channel, that he had contacted the Cambodian government and asked it to ensure the engineer receives a fair trial.

"If there is anything I can do to help, I'll do it even though it [the charge] is real," he said.

The recent deterioration in Thai-Cambodian relations started last month when Hun Sen appointed Thaksin as an economic adviser to his government. Tensions increased when Cambodia rejected Thai requests that Thaksin be extradited.

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Cambodian opposition leader stripped of immunity

Cambodia’s parliament stripped immunity from main opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday, clearing the way for charges against him for uprooting markings at the border with Vietnam.

“The National Assembly has lifted the parliamentary immunity of Sam Rainsy,” a statement from the legislative body said.

The statement went on to say Sam Rainsy, currently abroad, had committed acts of “uprooting border posts between Cambodia and Vietnam, and inciting [people] to commit criminal offences” in southeastern Svay Rieng Province.

The move permits court action against Sam Rainsy, who removed six markers at the border during a march in Svay Rieng last month, alleging that they were illegally placed by Vietnam.

Lawmakers from his eponymous Sam Rainsy Party boycotted yesterday’s closed parliamentary vote and held aloft a map of Cambodia as they marched through the streets of the capital, denouncing the decision as “political intimidation.”

The French-educated former finance minister is the main rival to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. He touts liberal democracy and human rights, while promising to raise wages and fight corruption.

Son Chhay, chief of the party’s members of parliament, called the decision a “threat or intimidation against the party leader … [with] political intention to shut up the opposition party.”
Vietnam condemned Sam Rainsy for uprooting the border posts, and asked Phnom Penh to protect the two countries’ sensitive demarcation process.

Sam Rainsy has said he believed the border markers were erected unilaterally by Vietnamese authorities, and that villagers had removed similar posts in the area early this year.

Cambodia and Vietnam officially began demarcating their contentious border in September 2006, in a bid to end decades of territorial disputes.

The border row has sparked virulent anti-Vietnamese sentiment in Cambodia, fuelled by resentment of Vietnam’s expansion over the centuries.

The 1,270km border has remained essentially unmarked and vague since French colonial times, with stone markers and boundary flags having disappeared, while trees lining it were cut down.
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Carters help build Thai homes

Mr Carter and his wife, Rosalynn (both centre), are among 3,000 volunteers from 25 countries working with Habitat for Humanity this week to help build and repair homes along the Mekong River in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Laos. -- PHOTO: AP

CHIANG MAI (Thailand) - FORMER US President Jimmy Carter helped the housing charity that he champions, Habitat for Humanity, launch a campaign Monday to build homes for 50,000 families in the Mekong River region over the next five years.

Mr Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are among 3,000 volunteers from 25 countries working with Habitat for Humanity this week to help build and repair homes along the Mekong River in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Laos.

The homes in Cambodia are being built for families currently living in a garbage dump, the ones in Vietnam are for fishermen who now live on their boats, and the project in China involves construction of an apartment building in a part of Sichuan province devastated by a 2008 earthquake.

'In an area of the world where many people live in deplorable conditions, we have a chance to help families improve their housing,' said Mr Carter, wearing sneakers, jeans and a work shirt. He and his wife spent Monday helping build homes in northern Thailand's Chiang Mai province, where 82 will be constructed in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who celebrates his 82nd birthday next month.

Habitat for Humanity's Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Reckford said the Georgia-based non-profit group decided to scale up its activities in the Mekong region over the next five years because the needs were so great.

'This is an area that gets less attention than some other parts of the world,' Reckford said. 'But if you look at income levels, there are huge numbers of families living at terribly low levels at a dollar a day. There is a huge deficit of decent housing, so it starts with the need.' -- AP

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Govt told to treat Cambodia subtly

Experts warn a more mature stance needed on the issues

The government must exercise "more maturity" in the ongoing diplomatic row with Cambodia, starting with changing its current positions against the neighbouring country, diplomatic experts say.

International affairs and legal experts warned Thailand could risk losing international creditability and long-term economic prospects should the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration continue with its current strategies including the planned termination of a number of agreements with Cambodia.

"The government has failed to use other solutions, except retaliation moves,"Chulacheeb Chinwanno, vice rector of Thammasat University, told a seminar yesterday.

"A refrain from such premature retaliation, should it adopt it, could demonstrate its maturity in dealing with the issue."

The diplomatic spat between the two nations has worsened since last month after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appointed ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as his personal and economic adviser.

The Thai government has imposed a number of retaliatory moves including recalling Thai ambassador to Cambodia Prasas Prasasvinitchai. It is also in the process of terminating a memorandum of understanding on an overlapping maritime area.

The document was signed in 2001 when Thaksin was prime minister.

The government defended its plan to terminate the agreement, which is still pending parliament approval.

But Chumphorn Pachusanond, an international law expert at Chulalongkorn University's law faculty, said such a decision would not be easy to apply and it would bring joint oil and gas exploration efforts in the Gulf of Thailand back to square one.

"I want the government to consider this more profoundly," he said.

The agreement is a binding treaty in which Thailand would be required to propose an alternative measure should it want the termination, he said.

"Why do we want to make a mess out of this MoU? The Thai government has no reason to fear its existence," he said.

Should both nations go ahead with the MoU, they will mutually benefit from the exploration of hydrocarbon resources, he said.

Puangthong Pawakapan, from the political science faculty at Chulalongkorn University, said a halt to exploration could obstruct both countries' efforts to gain energy security and further affect economic development on both sides.

The government's other move to scrap a 1.4-billion-baht soft loan for a road project linking Surin to Siem Reap is also shortsighted because Thailand would be disadvantaged.

She said the project would help Thai businesses to transport their products to Cambodia and Vietnam and increase trade volumes for Thai industries.

The government's termination of the loan is unlikely to affect Cambodia which will be able to easily seek another loan from other lenders such as China or Japan, she said.

Thailand had also sidestepped softer, preliminary diplomatic approaches and adopted far too aggressive ones.

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