KH KOMPONG CHAM

Friday, January 14, 2011
Good Morning Freedom in Cambodia!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Anonymous KI-Media Reader
I live in Phnom Penh, each morning before I left home for work my wife reminded me: don't talk politic, don't criticize government officials, do your work and come back home.

She will probably collapse by fear at once if I tell her that I read KI Media or listen to Radio Free Asia. Yes good morning freedom in Cambodia.


Friday, January 14, 2011
My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series
Constitution of Cambodia (Sept. 1993)
Chapter III
Rights and Responsibilities of Khmer Citizens
Article 38:
The law guarantees there shall be no physical abuse against any individual.
The law shall protect life, honor, and dignity of the citizens.
The prosecution, arrest, or detention of any person shall not be done except in accordance with the law.
Coercion, physical ill treatment or any other mistreatment that imposes additional punishment on a detainee or prisoner shall be prohibited. Persons who commit, participate or conspire in such acts shall be punished according to the law.
Confessions obtained by physical or mental force shall not be admissible as evidence of guilt.
Any case of doubt, it shall be resolved in favor of the accused.
The accused shall be considered innocent until the court has judged finally on the case.
Every citizen shall enjoy the right to defense through judicial recourse.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Cambodia among 25 countries that showed significant declines in democracy last year
Global freedom 'slipped last year'

Jan 14, 2011
Today Online
WASHINGTON - Thailand and Cambodia were among 25 countries that showed significant declines in democracy last year, the Washington-based Freedom House reported yesterday. It was the fifth consecutive year the Freedom House has reported a decline in political rights and civil liberties worldwide - the longest period of continuous decline in the index's nearly 40-year history, according to American magazine Foreign Policy.

"Our adversaries are not just engaging in widespread repression, they are doing so with unprecedented aggressiveness and self-confidence," said Mr David J Kramer, executive director of Freedom House.

The report surveyed 194 countries and 14 territories around the world.


Other countries listed as declining in their levels of freedom were Afghanistan, Bahrain, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Hungary, Iran, Kuwait, Latvia, Madagascar, Mexico, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zambia.

Mexico's fall from "free" to the "partly free" category was described as "nearly unprecedented". It was blamed on the state's failure to "protect ordinary citizens, journalists and elected officials from organised crime" and drug violence, said Foreign Policy.

The report also found that China, Egypt, Iran, Russia and Venezuela continued to increase repressive measures with little significant resistance from democracies.

Among the examples cited were China pressuring foreign governments to boycott the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony honouring jailed democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo and Russia's "blatant disregard" for judicial independence in sentencing former oil magnate Mikhail Khordokovsky after a trial widely considered fraudulent.

Eleven countries were credited with making gains last year, including Kyrgyzstan and Guinea, both of which moved from "not free" to "partly free" after holding comparatively free and fair elections.

The Middle East and North Africa remained the regions with the lowest level of freedom. Agencies
Friday, January 14, 2011
Freedom Plummets in Cambodia


Cambodia was amongst several Asian nations deemed to be "not free" in the Freedom House report. Credit: RFA
2011-01-13
Radio Free Asia
Cambodia became increasingly restricted in 2010, while several other Asian nations ranked at the bottom of a global freedom index.

Cambodia was among 25 countries whose freedom levels plunged in 2010 amid an erosion of civil rights and political liberties in the tightly-ruled Southeast Asian state, according to an annual survey released Thursday by global watchdog Freedom House.

North Korea and Burma were ranked among the nine “worst of the worst” countries by the Washington-based group while China was singled out for the continued imprisonment of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, and harassment of his family and supporters in what was seen as the “most notorious case” of events challenging global freedom in 2010.

Freedom House designated Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam in a group of countries deemed to be “not free” in its Freedom in the World report.


"Cambodia received a downward trend arrow due to the government’s consolidation of control over all aspects of the electoral process, its increased intimidation of civil society, and its apparent influence over the tribunal trying former members" of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, the report said.

Sarah Cook, Asia research analyst for Freedom House, said civil rights and political liberties of Cambodians took a tumble.

“On civil liberties it was related to this point of freedom of assembly, kind of an increased crackdown on protests and limited space for demonstrations. While on the political side, it had to do really with this kind of government intimidation of opposition leaders like Sam Rainsy being pushed out of the country and essentially marginalized,” she said.

‘Worst of the worst’

On North Korea, Cook said the nuclear-armed and reclusive country remains “deeply” within the “worst of the worst” category in Freedom House's ratings and is “arguably the most repressive regime and country in the world.”

While Burma held its first elections in two decades in November last year, the report said that the electoral process was controlled to ensure a victory by the military regime's proxy party. Nobel laureate and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy opposition party boycotted the polls.

Still, the report noted that Burma's new electoral laws allowed for the registration and participation of 37 opposition and independent ethnic minority parties, several of which won election to the new assembly.

“It was kind of this balance between a situation that was far from a free and fair election, but nonetheless in terms of political rights scores, there were several small score improvements, given the ability to really mobilize and organize and as political parties running up to the election,” Cook said.

Censorship

In China, Freedom House was critical of the Communist Party's massive censorship campaign, especially online, to try to limit the circulation of information about Nobel laureate Liu, Cook said.

The report highlighted Internet censorship, violent forced evictions, questionable judicial procedures pointing to political intervention, the enforced disappearance of rights lawyers, and new regulations curtailing the activities of NGOs as major obstacles to freedom this year in the world’s most populous nation.

The Chinese government also maintained harsh conditions for ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs and Tibetans, and persecuted house church members and other non-sanctioned religious practitioners, the report said.

While the ranking of Laos did not change much from last year, Cook said the government’s treatment of the ethnic Hmong, who fought in a secret war with the U.S. against Vietnamese-backed communists during the Vietnam War, became increasingly worse in 2010, Freedom House said.

“One thing we did note was actually more of a crackdown on the Hmong, in the sense of increased discrimination and repression," Cook said.

Some of the Hmong recently deported from other neighboring countries were not allowed to meet journalists, she said.

In Vietnam, a crackdown on activists in advance of a Communist Party Congress created “a climate of self-censorship” on political topics, Freedom House said.

Cook said that the Vietnamese government also tightened restrictions on general dissent in 2010.

“Particularly as the Internet spreads and the blogosphere becomes more influential, and people are using these technologies to campaign and to mobilize" [around issues, such as land rights,] you see an increasing crackdown on bloggers and on online dissent.”
Friday, January 14, 2011
Buying Cambodia’s killing fields [-Country for Sale, for inquiry call 1-800-Hun-Xen]


Producer Jo Mathys recording an interview for Crossing Continents' Cambodia: Country for Sale


Land being built on by developers, photographed while recording the programme
12 January, 2011
BBC World Series
Crossing Continents reporter Mukul Devichand describes his trip to Cambodia to try to understand why global investors are suddenly fighting to snap up cheap fertile paddy fields from poor villagers, who claim they are being exploited and intimidated.

“There aren’t meant to be any landmines here,” says my producer Jo Mathys.

We’ve followed the rulebook on operating in potentially unsafe environments and made several checks before driving to this remote village in Cambodia’s far north.

But sometimes, even the best checks only get you so far.

Outside the car window is a very large flag with a skull and crossbones – the international symbol for mines.

It’s a clear warning, do not tread here.


New conflict
"Journalistically, this is the most difficult part of the assignment. While there are no end of non-governmental organisations eager to take us to villages where they claim there was wrongdoing, the business community - perhaps understandably - are wary of foreign reporters." - Crossing Continents reporter Mukul Devichand
Land mines are just one of the perils of reporting in Cambodia.

But as we travel around the country making an edition of Crossing Continents – the BBC radio documentary series on world affairs – it soon dawns on us that much of what goes on here relates to recent history and a very painful conflict.

The country fell under the rule of leader Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge party from 1975-9, whose ‘social engineering’ policies resulted in the deaths of an estimated two million people. And for more than a decade after that, the Khmer Rouge were locked in a guerrilla war with the new, Vietnamese-backed government.

Twelve years after Pol Pot’s militia finally collapsed, we’re here to look at the way the government has opened up the country’s land to private and foreign investors.

These measures have resulted in a new type of conflict. Today villagers are saying that they’re being displaced so that their land can be sold.

Investigating allegations

Back in the car, with the skull and crossbones still staring us in the face, there’s a long and uncomfortable pause as Jo, myself and our local colleague Yin Soeum make calls and speak to locals in Khmer and English.

We ascertain that the path to the village we are visiting is, in fact, landmine free and well trodden.

Indeed, the warning sign turns out to be a part of the story.

Mines have now been cleared here, but it only happened when a private company took over the village’s land to turn it into a sugar plantation.

And we are here to investigate claims that these villagers have been forcefully evicted by the company.

Fallout from history

So we get out of the car and set out on the long walk to O’Batman village, led by locals through the humid afternoon air.

There’s not much to look at when we arrive. The burnt out shells of the villagers’ old homes are behind a perimeter fence, guarded by armed police.

The villagers say they were chased out and their houses set alight by authorities, shortly before a Thai investor acquired the land.

Investors often say villagers like these are ‘squatters’, because they don’t have documents to prove they own the fields being taken over.

And technically they are right because the Khmer Rouge, deciding to turn back the clock to ‘year zero’, burned all land deeds back in the 1970s.

So, just like the land mines, this current conflict is a direct result of the fallout from Cambodia’s painful history.

Uncomfortable moments

A few days later, back in the capital Pnomh Penh, Jo and I are in the more congenial surrounds of the Metro Cafe.

It’s a favourite place for casual business meetings and the best venue in town to meet investors from abroad.

We’re keen to know what these investors think, so we take it in turns to strike up conversations with bemused-looking foreign businessmen, using our smatterings of Hindi and Mandarin, as well as English.

Journalistically, this is the most difficult part of the assignment. While there are no end of non-governmental organisations eager to take us to villages where they claim there was wrongdoing, the business community - perhaps understandably - are wary of foreign reporters.

After a number of dead-end conversations, I finally strike gold.

Winners and losers

The next morning I'm in a motorcycle rickshaw on the way to meet George, a Chinese Malaysian investor.

He introduces me to Liv Sokhpetra, his local business partner. Aged 28, having already made millions of dollars in land and other deals, this intriguing man (who goes by the nickname 'Petra') becomes a big part of our documentary and an indicator to what Cambodia's new elite really thinks.

Petra transports us around in his own four-wheel drive.

He maintains he has never 'grabbed' land, but acknowledges there are many losers in the new investment rush.

"It's just too bad for them," he tells me.

Like every Cambodian, he's seen much pain in his own lifetime and any form of change is welcome.
Friday, January 14, 2011
End Slavery Now


Somaly Mam (R)
January 13, 2011
AnnaLynne McCord
The Huffington Post
Over the 2010 holiday season I had the incredible opportunity of returning to my home away from home, Cambodia. My older sister Angel and one of my best friends Melissa joined me on this trip in order to see a world many people are unaware even exists. We brought school supplies, donated computers and Christmas gifts to shelters run by my beautiful "sister," my friend, Somaly Mam. Somaly founded the grassroots organization, AFESIP, which is now supported by the Somaly Mam Foundation, to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate survivors of human trafficking.

A true heroine of our time, Somaly was sold into slavery at age 12 and forced to work in a brothel, where she was brutally tortured and raped on a daily basis. Heroically, however, Somaly managed to escape her captors, vowing to never forget those left behind. She has dedicated her life to saving other victims and empowering those lucky enough to survive the atrocious plight of human trafficking. To date, Somaly has rescued over 6,000 girls from modern-day slavery.


During my trip back to Cambodia we returned to the first shelter of Somaly's that I ever visited, Kampong Cham, as well as two other shelters she runs in two of Cambodia's biggest cities, the capital Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. On the trek to Kampong Cham there is an abandoned facility which was formerly a brothel. Multicolored condoms litter the floor in this skeleton of a building which once imprisoned innocent young girls being used for sex. In the basement the remnants of a true cage are apparent with metal posts decorated with rusted chains representing the punishment which would be inflicted should a girl refuse to service a client.

Upon arriving to the shelter, I was greeted by many familiar faces and Angel and Melissa were overwhelmingly uplifted by the dozens of vibrant young girls, all of whom now have the opportunity to study English, learn computer skills, and take practical job skill training.

It can take anywhere from three to five years for survivors of sex trafficking to reclaim their lives. The Somaly Mam Foundation is there every step of the way, supporting programs which rescue victims, offer psychological counseling and provide funds for education and vocational training to prepare survivors for reintegration into society.

Each of Somaly's girls bears her metaphoric mark. The love emanating from their very cells pours into my heart and soul, changing me eternally in ways I cannot express with words. Their illuminating beauty lights the room and the world around them, allowing no darkness anywhere to reside. Their laughter rings like happy Christmas bells to all who may be so lucky to hear it. "I love you in my heart!" they told me over and again with loving affection shining in their eyes.

I first met these beautiful beings on a glorious March day after an insanely bumpy hour and half long drive through the rural Cambodian countryside. The journey to Kampong Cham was only the beginning of my introduction to beauty so pure, so raw and yet not untouched.

As survivors of one of our world's most atrocious human rights violations, these young, would-be indentured slaves have seen a life to which we in our sheltered lives could never be privy. And thankfully so, as the stories I've come to learn would cause even the most callous of my peers to become ill with emotion.

Thank God for writers such as New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of my favorite book to date, Half the Sky. Their depiction of our world's continued conflict over equality for women worldwide is as honest as one can hope to find. With informative statistics, clarified myths, and calls to action laced into every chapter, one cannot finish this book without at least a slight understanding of the true importance of the fight to have women be free of oppression and allowed access to education without discrimination.

The idea behind Nicholas and Sheryl's book is, simply stated, empower and educate a girl if you hope to see change in a community and/or abroad. Even simpler still, as the book's title states, "women hold up half the sky." All women can realize their potential for greatness and all great men have already realized their need for a strong woman. I do not say this from a feminist standpoint. I do not say this thinking in any way, shape or form that women are at all superior to men. I say this because it has been proven and because he who hath an ear to hear, let him hear.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for millennia the female species has been viewed as a thing of beauty. Beauty which is revered, beauty which is lusted after, beauty which is appreciated, beauty which is preyed upon. The last of which not one of Somaly's resilient Cambodian girls hasn't fallen victim to. Whether by pimp or sex-tourist, local deviant or more heinous still, a father, brother, uncle, cousin, grandfather, Somaly's girls have survived the worst of what our world has to offer. And yet, something which may come as a surprise to you - it most certainly did to me - these beauties are the happiest young women and children I've ever met.

Forced into a life of shame and degradation, these "damaged" humans are so far above the piteous box in which most Westerners would think to put them. In fact, I would go as far as to say they are not the damaged ones at all. If anyone is to be pitied it is we of the Western world, as we gripe and complain about simplicities such as not having "enough bars in enough places," or in L.A. where I live, "the horrible traffic on the 405." I am most certainly guilty of this. Yes, it is we who have a lot to learn from these incredible individuals who can survive well beyond what would seem to be humanly possible and after, finally in their state of freedom, smile and dance with zest for life.

Human trafficking is perpetrated in every country and has been deemed the fastest growing form of organized crime in the world. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked every year. The Somaly Mam Foundation works internationally to end these atrocities through direct services for victims, advocacy and outreach.

Melissa, Angel and I are privileged to have experienced resilient love in its purest form: hugs, kisses and non-stop affection given by young heroes following in the footsteps of their hero and "mother" Somaly. I gained a new perspective on what is really important in life - a gift from Somaly and her "girls."

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month in the United States. Please consider what you can do (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to raise awareness of the greatest human rights violation of our time, modern-day slavery. Visit www.somaly.org to learn more about this global crisis and how you can help raise funds to support programs for survivors. Every action, whether small or great, is a step towards ending this atrocious sin on humanity.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Mu Sochua: Interventions by the NatAss President and the minister of Justice in a corruption case warrant their sacking


SRP MP Mu Sochua
Thursday 13 Jan 2011
By Pech Bandol
The Free Press Magazine
Translated from Khmer by Neay Oss Dey
Click here to read the article in Khmer
SRP MP Mu Sochua indicated that the intervention made by Heng Xamrin, the president of the National Assembly (NatAss), and by Ang Von Vattana, the minister of Justice, for Mrs. Dy Prim, Hun Xen’s cousin, in a corruption case a few months ago is coming out to light. She indicated that if such intervention takes place in any democratic countries, those who intervene would be sacked from their position.

Mrs. Mu Sochua, who is currently demanding that the NatAss returns her parliamentary immunity after all her fine had been paid off to Hun Xen in full since November 2010, told the Free Press Magazine (FPM) this morning that: “The interventions by the [two] leaders [above] in a corruption case is contrary to the rule of law and it is a dangerous and serious bias.” She added: “This type of people should not be left in the justice system, they should be removed. I regret that Mr. Ang Vong Vattana, who used to live in France, takes this kind of action, this is a violation of the [professional] ethics.”

Seng Yean, an official for the inspection division and parliament relation, and Mrs. Dy Prim, Hun Xen’s cousin on his mother side, were accused of corruption by accepting $200,000 [? The FPM reported only $20, a typo] from residents in Dangkao district, Phnom Penh city, in a land dispute case. The two were charged with corruption by the court, but the legal case has dragged in court for several years already. Recently, Heng Xamrin and Ang Vong Vattana sent letters to Hun Xen, trying to butter him up [by intervening for his cousin], asking the latter to drop the charges against Seng Yean and Dy Prim. Meanwhile, in the case of Mrs. Mu Sochua whose legal case concluded since November 2010, Ang Von Vattana never sent any letter to the NatAss to return her immunity back to her yet.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Cambodian human rights activist Theary Seng to speak at Art Museum for MLK Symposium
5Jan 13, 2011 [Today]
By: Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
Community Contributor
AnnArbor.com
Many know how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. developed many of his ideas from the writings of Gandhi, but I only recently began to learn how the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also went on to influence many others around the globe.

Cambodian human rights activist and Khmer Rouge survivor Theary Seng will be speaking this Thursday, Jan. 13, from 7-9 p.m., at the University of Michigan Museum of Art Helmut Stern Auditorium, “MLK Across The Globe: His Legacy In Advancing The Values Of Justice, Peace, And Reconciliation In Cambodia.”

Theary Seng is the founder and board president of the Cambodian Center for Justice & Reconciliation and the founding director of CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education.

This program is sponsored as part on the University of Michigan 25th Annual MLK Symposium by the University of Michigan Center for Southeast Asian Studies, U of M Museum of Art, U of M Law School, the Cambodia Law Project, the President’s Advisory Board on Labor Standards and Human Rights, and the U of M School of Public Health.

University of Michigan Museum of Art is located at 525 S. State St. in Ann Arbor.


Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a second-generation Chinese American from California who now divides her time between Ann Arbor and the Big Island of Hawaii. She is an editor of IMDiversity.com Asian American Village, lead multicultural contributor for AnnArbor.com and a contributor for New America Media's Ethnoblog. She is on the Advisory Board of American Citizens for Justice. She team-teaches "Asian Pacific American History and the Law" at University of Michigan and University of Michigan Dearborn. She is a popular speaker on Asian Pacific American and multicultural issues. Check out her website at franceskaihwawang.com, her blog at franceskaihwawang.blogspot.com, and she can be reached at fkwang888@gmail.com.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Do Cambodian men like to wear “Gangsta-like” jewelry? Neay Koy seems to be like that


Chuong Chi aka comedian Neay Koy



The preferred attire for some Cambodian men?
Neay Koy robbed in full daylight

Thursday 13 Jan 2011
Kampuchea Thmei
Translated from Khmer by Neay Oss Dey
Phnom Penh – Chuong Chi, also known as comedian Neay Koy, was robbed in full daylight (12:30 PM) by armed men on 13 January 2011. The robbery took place at Garage Sok Chamroeun, located along Street No. 261 and the intersection of Street No. 186, Tuk La’ak 3 commune, Tuol Kok district, Phnom Penh city.

The police indicated that Neay Koy was robbed by 4 armed men in 2 motorcycles, they used two handguns to point at him and rob him of 2 diamond rings, 1 diamond wrist chain and 1 diamond necklace. The cost of the jewelry robbed is approximately US$40,000.

The police indicated that prior to the incident, Neay Koy took a commercial-type vehicle to fix at the garage above and left it there several days earlier. On the day of the incident, he was driving a Toyota Landcruiser to the garage to check out the status of his other case, then the robbery took place.

Neay Koy complained to the cops before leaving immediately to Siem Reap to perform in a show there.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Speech from genocide survivor [Ung Loung] to mark school's International Week

Jan 13, 2011
By Staff reports
Norwich Bulletin (Connecticut, USA)
Thompson, Conn. — A Cambodian genocide survivor will speak to Marianapolis Preparatory School students next month, the school announced today.

Human rights activist Loung Ung documented her experiences growing up in the notorious “killing fields” of Cambodia during the 1970s in “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers.” She will speak at the Marianapolis at 9:10 a.m. Feb. 11 as part of the school’s International Week.

The public is invited to the speech.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Detained Thais become pawns in political game
SPECIAL REPORT: Academics believe border case is being exploited by groups

14/01/2011
Atiya Achakulwisut and Thaweesak Butchan
Bangkok Post

Emotions are running high over the case of seven Thais on trial for allegedly trespassing - and spying, in the case of two of them - on Cambodian soil.

Various groups are subscribing to different beliefs. They are making noises but, collectively, have failed to present a logical argument over the issue.

Charnvit Kasetsiri, a retired historian and pioneer of Southeast Asian studies in the country, said two things are worrying about the case.

First is the issue of border demarcation, which demands technical expertise and cooperation. It has become so politicised that it will be difficult to bring it back into the right framework.

Second, the seven Thai detainees have become political hostages in the eyes of some citizen groups in both countries.


"The whole case has been blown out of proportion and become so complicated that it will be very difficult to solve," Mr Charnvit said. "Eventually, the border problem must be brought back to the legal and technical framework, but for now the problem is political and must be solved by political means."

He said he does not believe the ongoing protest by the Thai Patriots Network will achieve anything for the seven Thais.

"It's more of a way for the group to express their political standpoint," Mr Charnvit said.

Boonruang Katchama, a former lecturer at Surindra Rajabhat University who has worked on border issues, agreed that protesting was "hardly a way to help the seven Thais under arrest or to resolve conflicts over land demarcation".

"In the case of the seven Thais, there is no other way but to let diplomacy and the Foreign Ministry do their best," Mr Boonruang said.

He said both countries need to be more diligent in working towards clearing up the land demarcation issue. Both sides seem to want to try to settle the border issue only when there is an election pending, he said.

For longer-term relations, Thailand must work harder in terms of cultural exchanges with Cambodia.

"Here in Surin, we have a language studies programme in which we send our teachers to teach the Thai language in Cambodia and they send their teachers to teach the Cambodian language here," Mr Boonruang said. "This type of cooperation will build a lasting relationship and reduce conflicts and paranoia."

Suchao Nongmeewa, director of the Mekong Studies Centre at Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, agreed with the use of culture as a bridge between the two neighbours.

"Mixing politics, history and ideology in international relations, which evidently is what is happening in the case of the seven Thais, will only widen conflicts as these are not issues in which countries can find common ground," Mr Suchao said.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, said that although the latest protest by the Thai Patriots Network (TPN), which he called an extremist wing of the People's Alliance for Democracy, has been met with relative silence from society at large, their provocation is still disturbing.

"The TPN is engaging in a provocation that is an equivalent to the PAD's takeover of Government House and Bangkok's airports in 2008," he said. "It is bringing Thailand to the brink, hogging the headlines, beating war drums."

For Mr Thitinan, the nationalistic card being played out is for political gain.

"This is an old issue even if the TPN's claims are true. Raising it now suggests they want to bring down the government and create conditions for political change that could play in their favour," he said.

Mr Thitinan's opinion speaks volumes: "Why is the TPN making all the noises while the PAD appears to be lending some but not complete support? Does the TPN's involvement in the Thai-Cambodian spat betray internal politics within the yellow-shirt movement?

"The PAD is fragmented but its broad aim is still unified in destabilising the government, stirring up trouble and maintaining friction."

He said that after their initial anti-Thaksin alliance during the 2006 coup, the PAD felt betrayed by the Democrat Party and the Abhisit government because it has received little in return for its instrumental role in overthrowing the Thaksin administration.

"The PAD and its militant offshoot TPN are a political monster that has been fostered by the powers-that-be. I'm curious to see what the powers-that-be will do in reaction," he said.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thais SHOULD fight each other over border with Cambodia, we, Cambodians, urge you!


Walit: ‘We are ready to do our duty’
Thais must not fight each other over border

14/01/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post
Maj Gen Walit Rojanapakdi, commander of the Burapha Task Force, is in charge of security along the Thai-Cambodian border.

He tells Bangkok Post reporter WASSANA NANUAM that Thais should attempt to put aside their differences, as internal disunity will only please the country's enemies.

How will the Burapha Task Force cope with the Thai Patriots Network if it rallies and seals the Thai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo to protest against Cambodia's arrest of seven Thais for trespass?

Please do not close the border. That would not put any pressure on Cambodia. Do you think [prime minister] Hun Sen will release the seven Thais in response? No, he won't. Over 2,000 local people are praying for peace. If problems grow, they will be in trouble. They will not be able to do business.

The Thai Patriots Network wants to block Thai gamblers from visiting Cambodian casinos which it believes are the main sources of Hun Sen's income.


We should campaign to raise the awareness of Thais who gamble there. But closing the border will cause problems for local people and bilateral problems will grow. I am afraid that local people may clash with visiting protesters. Soldiers will try their best to prevent that. If Thais end up fighting each other, Cambodians will laugh at us.

How will the soldiers handle mobs?

We will deploy forces to block people from reaching the border. If they cross it, problems will increase.

I have learned a painful lesson. I was injured in the army crackdown at the Khok Wua intersection during the red shirt protests last April. My leg was broken in three places by a grenade blast.

I had to recuperate in hospital for months and use a cane. Today I can walk but still cannot run. Many subordinates of mine are still lying in hospital with more serious injuries.

I don't want to see Thais fight against each other over the border issue with Cambodia as well. I know everyone loves the nation but we still have choices.

Are Thai soldiers discouraged by their Cambodian counterparts?

Soldiers are not discouraged. We are afraid of no one. We are ready to do our duty. But the decision rests with policy-makers.

Do you think local people may clash with members of the Thai Patriots Network?

We soldiers will do our best to prevent that. Thais should neither clash nor bleed because of Cambodia. Internal conflicts please only neighbouring countries that are our competitors.

Can the Burapha Task Force handle the situation along the border?

If the mobs stay away, soldiers can take care of the area. We have not reinforced troop numbers.

Thai and Cambodian soldiers are still on good terms. The fate of the seven Thais accused of trespass rests with the justice system and the Foreign Ministry.