Kasit clarifies spying engineer’s case

BANGKOK, 16 December 2009 (NNT) – Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has issued a clarification on the assistance and attempts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand to help the Thai engineer accused of espionage in Cambodia.

According to the letter, the Foreign Ministry extended congratulations to Mr Sivarak Chutipong, the Thai engineer released from detention in Cambodia for espionage and his family for his freedom and safe journey back to Thailand. The minister had insisted on the ministry’s assistance to facilitate the engineer and his family since Mr Sivarak is a Thai national and has rights to be fully protected.

Mr Kasit then confirmed that the ministry never accused the engineer of staging everything or creating problems. He also dismissed the accusation that the ministry assigned the Thai Embassy’s First Secretary to Phnom Penh, Kamrob Palawatwichai, to use the engineer to retrieve the flight information of ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The minister also confirmed that Mr Kamrob had never been asked to do anything against his duty as a diplomat. He explained that the first secretary operated normally to track Mr Thaksin and to seek his extradition to Thailand.

Mr Kasit said that both Mr Kamrob and Mr Sivarak were victims of politics and confirmed that the first secretary felt sorry for the ordeal that Mr Siwarak had to face.

As for the relationship with Cambodia, the minister viewed that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen caused all the problems between the two countries for interfering with the internal affairs of Thailand and criticizing the Thai judiciary system. He stressed that Thailand had a policy to be friendly and respectful with its neighbor without intervening in internal issues.