KH KOMPONG CHAM

Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Thailand's antigovernment red shirts gear up for elections


Thai antigovernment 'red shirt' protesters gather at Bangkok's shopping district, decorated in red colors on Jan. 9. The protesters marched across Bangkok on Sunday, in the first peaceful and symbolic demonstration since the government lifted an emergency rule in the capital. (Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)
Tens of thousands of Thailand's antigovernment 'red-shirt' protesters took to Bangkok's streets over the weekend demanding democracy and promising to keep up the pressure as Thailand turns toward elections this year.

January 10, 2011
By Simon Montlake, Correspondent
The Christian Science Monitor

Bangkok - Tens of thousands of antigovernment “red-shirt” protesters rallied in Bangkok Sunday in their largest show of force since Thai troops violently broke up protests last May.

Rally leaders demanded justice for those killed in May and vowed to keep pressing the government.

The boisterous rally, which drew at least 30,000 people, came as Thailand braces for an election that must be called by the end of this year and will be bitterly contested. Last year's bloodshed, the worst in a generation, has left a highly-polarized political landscape and calls for national reconciliation have faltered.

A rival royalist group is preparing to rally on Jan. 25 and has stirred up tensions on the disputed Thai-Cambodia border, where seven Thais, including a ruling party lawmaker, were recently arrested for illegal entry. The group shut down Bangkok’s international airports in late 2008, helping to topple an elected government loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.


“The underlying conflict is still not resolved,” says Kan Yuenyong, director of Siam Intelligence Unit, a research center in Bangkok.

Hours before Sunday’s rally, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva used a televised speech to unveil new policies for low-income families. His aides say that the government is trying to reduce tensions by reaching out to disaffected voters on both economic issues and social justice, a rallying cry of the red shirts. These reforms include constitutional changes and new media regulations.

Justice?

“This is part of reconciliation. The broader aim is to reduce injustice,” says Panitan Wattanyagorn, a spokesman for Mr. Abhisit.

In the aftermath of the May protests, in which 91 people died, mostly red-shirt protesters shot in street clashes, the government promised a full investigation.

But the powerful military has stonewalled an independent inquiry, to the frustration of victims’ families. Investigators have also struggled to identify masked gunmen who fought alongside the red shirts.

At Sunday’s rally, protesters held aloft gilt-framed photos of the dead and pinned up gruesome pictures of corpses. Candles were lit in their memory at a makeshift altar with a collection box stuffed with donations. A woman with horror movie make-up daubed on her face held a sign that read in Thai and English: “Abhisit is the great PRETENDER. One Land, Double Standard.”

Patama Thooppae, a cashier in a nightclub, said any reconciliation was “impossible” while Abhisit holds power. “We want democracy,” she says, indicating the swelling crowd in the shadow of a shopping mall torched last May.

Abhisit has promised to call elections once the situation calms down. Last month, he lifted a state of emergency imposed during the protests. Some analysts have predicted a poll by mid year to take advantage of strong economic growth and higher public spending.

Mr. Panitan says the government is already in “campaign mode” and this will ease political tension. “By shortening our term in office and giving the power to the people to decide on their parliament, this can contribute to reconciliation,” he says.

Change coming?

Having survived last year’s upheaval, the ruling Democrat Party appears confident of reelection, say analysts. But it has lost the last three elections to parties led by or allied with Mr. Thaksin, who continues to pull strings from afar and has plenty of supporters. He made a brief phone-in to Sunday’s rally, promising to help Thailand recover its democracy.

“The Democrat Party and its allies have persuaded themselves that the (red-shirt) threat is diminished. But we’ve yet to see whether that’s true or not,” says Chris Baker, a historian of Thailand and coauthor of a critical biography of Thaksin.

A peaceful election that returned the current government with a democratic mandate could tamp down protests though the red-shirt movement is likely to endure in some form. But a victory for the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai party would set the stage for further confrontation, particularly if Abhisit’s military backers refuse to accept the result. This could mean a repeat of the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin and exposed the fault lines in Thai politics.

Last May, hundreds of red shirts were arrested under the state of emergency. Human rights groups say that many were jailed arbitrarily on flimsy evidence.

The government has agreed to release some detainees. But courts have refused to grant bail to protest leaders held on terrorism charges. In contrast, prosecutors have repeatedly postponed an indictment of the royalists who seized the airports in 2008, fuelling red-shirt complaints of double standards.

Frederico Ferrara, an assistant professor at Hong Kong’s City University and author of "Siam Unhinged," a series of critical essays, argues reconciliation has become a hollow slogan. “A better word for what the government has been trying to do is something like "restoration"– to re-educate the skeptical, terrorize the reticent, and crush the undaunted,” he writes in an e-mail
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
COMMENT: Cambodian sanctuaries
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Ralph Shaw
Daily Times (Pakistan)
The major reason behind the American inspired coup and subsequent invasion of Cambodia was Vietnamisation — the idea that the US could buy its way out of the Vietnam quagmire, ‘honourably’, by increased military assistance and economic aid to the South Vietnamese government of Nguyen Thieu

The American-instigated coup that ousted Prince Sihanouk on March 18, 1970 is aptly described as the “beginning of the end of Cambodia” by Seymour Hersh in his book The Price of Power. The coup really was the start of a minor apocalypse for the country. Sihanouk had kept his country neutral in the raging conflict in neighbouring Vietnam by performing a balancing act between the communist and right wing forces. The anti-communist faction that deposed Sihanouk strengthened ties with the US and formally allowed South Vietnamese to conduct cross-border raids against communist sanctuaries in Cambodia, which were under secret US bombardment since March 1969, with the result that the communists moved further inland towards the Capital Phnom Penh.

Claiming that the Cambodian capital was in danger President Nixon launched an invasion of Cambodia on April 30 1970 in support of Lon Nol’s anti-communist government in Phnom Penh. The US foray into Cambodia ended two months later, without achieving anything, with 344 American, 818 South Vietnamese and untold communist combat deaths. The bitter civil war in Cambodia continued unabated and the social order collapsed. In 1975, the same year that Saigon fell, Lon Nol was overthrown by the communists. The reign of genocide that followed killed hundreds of thousands of Cambodians. The total number of civilian deaths in a population of 8 million at the time, including those from starvation and disease, is estimated to be around 1.7 million.


Though the US never admitted its role in the Cambodian coup investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has marshalled compelling evidence, from high level sources, that leaves little doubt that Sihanouk’s fall was the work of US agents. Sihanouk charged the same in his memoir, My War with the CIA (1973), but was belittled for his allegations. A highly classified military plan, initially code named Dirty Tricks, later baptised Sunshine Park, called for infiltration of mercenaries into Cambodian army units and assassination of Prince Sihanouk by a US trained assassination team disguised as Vietcong (the communist guerrilla force in South Vietnam). Sihanouk’s murder was to be used as a pretext for a right-wing coup. Mercenaries were infiltrated in the Cambodian army units before the coup but the assassination part of the proposal was rejected by Premier Lon Nol. He condemned it as “criminal insanity”. Hence the coup was staged while Prince Sihanouk was on a two-month foreign tour.

Prince Sihanouk, who often made equivocal statements on important issues, was nonetheless consistent in one view — that the US could not win in Vietnam. He advised US officials to establish normal diplomatic relations with North Vietnam because he thought that a unified socialist Vietnam was inevitable in the long run. He also admitted that he was powerless against the North Vietnamese and Vietcong sanctuaries inside Cambodia and told a visiting US senator that he was aware that Americans were bombing the sanctuaries but would not protest as long as the areas under attack were not inhabited by Cambodians. He said, “It is in one’s own interest, sometimes, to be bombed...in this case, the US kills foreigners who occupy Cambodian territory and does not kill Cambodians.” He also declared that if the Americans withdrew from Vietnam there would be no bombing incidents in his country. Sihanouk’s message was clear. He was suggesting that South Vietnam could not be prevented from going communist and that the US should consider a face saving retreat. Nixon and Kissinger considered him an enemy for giving such candid advice.

The major reason behind the American inspired coup and subsequent invasion of Cambodia was Vietnamisation — the idea that the US could buy its way out of the Vietnam quagmire, ‘honourably’, by increased military assistance and economic aid to the South Vietnamese government of Nguyen Thieu. Militarily Vietnamisation aimed at strengthening the South Vietnamese army through aid and training to the point where it could take on the Vietcong on its own, thus making the American withdrawal from Vietnam not to appear as an act of defeat and betrayal. In President Nixon’s thinking the North Vietnamese sanctuaries in Cambodia and in Laos along the Vietnamese border, that lay in the general area of the Ho Chi Minh trail — Vietcong’s supply line — were the biggest hurdles to his exit strategy i.e. Vietnamisation. The North Vietnamese and Vietcong could presumably continue a war of attrition indefinitely from the sanctuaries by conducting cross-border raids into South Vietnam and then fleeing back to the security of the safe havens in Cambodia and Laos. The spring 1970 invasions of Cambodia and Laos were primarily undertaken in support of Vietnamisation. But that was not the only reason.

The American Joint Chiefs of Staff had long advocated an invasion against the sanctuaries. Having been humiliated by the Vietcong into a stalemate in South Vietnam, where the Vietcong was in control of most of the countryside, they sought to expand the war as a way of assuaging their sense of defeat. The invasion had no support in the US State Department and many of Kissinger’s top aides in the National Security Council vehemently opposed it. The US’s anti-war movement, spearheaded by students, went berserk in the wake of the invasion. One-third of the US Universities were closed because of protests and four students got killed in disturbances at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.

President Nixon, shaken and nervous, held a press conference on May 8, 1970 and announced the unilateral withdrawal of American troops by July 1. However the, supposedly, secret bombing of the Cambodian sanctuaries continued until the signing of peace talks in 1973. It was a clear indication of the failure of the Cambodian invasion. The invasion had backfired by not only in its failure to destroy the North Vietnamese strongholds, that became more dispersed, but also by bringing the North Vietnamese and the Cambodian communist insurgents, the Khmer Rouge, together. The two groups had been antagonistic to each other until then. Most ironic was the fact that American Generals soon realised that instead of aiding Vietnamisation the invasion had become an obstacle to the policy by spreading the South Vietnam forces in a futile struggle in Cambodia instead of having them take greater responsibility in fighting the Vietcong in South Vietnam.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at ralphshaw11@gmail.com
uesday, January 11, 2011
Russia suspicious of [Cambodia-flagged] ship's SOS call
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- No trace has been found of a fishing boat that sent out a distress signal off Russia's Far East, but the SOS may have been a hoax, an official said Monday.

The Cambodian-flagged schooner Partner sent out the signal off the west coast of Sakhalin Friday, the Uglegorsk police chief, Sergei Bushuyev, told ITAR-Tass. The coastline was searched by sea and land, but nothing was found and the hunt was called off.

Andrei Krainiy, head of the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery, told reporters in Moscow the ship was poaching, and "if the vessel did sink, it is impossible to find traces, but there is another version. The ship gave a false distress signal to escape to some port in the Asia-Pacific Region, most likely to Japan, be repainted and renamed, get a new package of documents and set off fishing as a new schooner."


He said the boat, then called The Glen Grant, was detained Aug. 7 for violating Russia's economic zone and was released to the owner on bail Oct 8.

He said neither the shipowners in Belize nor authorities in Cambodia have reported the ship missing, nor have relatives of the crew.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Worker jailed for printing news blog article and showing it to colleagues


Seng Kunnaka (Photo: Ly Meng Huor, RFI)
10 January 2011
Source: Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders condemns the six-month jail sentence and fine of 1 million riels (250 dollars) that a Phnom Penh court imposed on World Food Programme employee Seng Kunnaka on a charge of criminal incitement for printing an article critical of the government and showing it to workmates.

Judge Keo Vandy convicted Seng under article 495 of the new criminal code in a summary trial on 19 December for sharing an article from the popular news blog KI-Media referring to Prime Minister Hun Sen and several other senior politicians as “traitors.” KI-Media recently also posted articles criticizing Cambodia’s territorial disputes with Vietnam, a very sensitive topic. Seng’s lawyer, Chou Sokheng, said he would appeal.

“This conviction reflects the harder line being taken by the government on online free expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “While not commenting on the content of the article, we point out that Seng did not distribute it publicly, which is punishable under Cambodia law. He just printed it in order to read it with two colleagues. He should not be made to suffer because of recent friction between the World Food Programme and the Cambodian government.”


Seng was tried just two days after being arrested in the Phnom Penh neighbourhood of Russei Keo, where he worked at a World Food Programme warehouse. His arrest came just days after the prime minister accused the WFP of wrongly claiming that Cambodia faced the possibility of a food shortage. WFP officials subsequently gave a public apology.

The new criminal code, which took effect on 10 December, reinforced the already existing restrictions on free expression. Article 495 is based on a vague definition of incitement as sharing or exposing the public to speech, writings, drawings or audiovisual telecommunication that could “directly result in a crime being committed” or in “serious social unrest.” Defamation and “affecting the dignity" of others is also punishable under this article.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Court slaps 2 Thais with spying charge
Immediate release not possible, says Hun Sen

11/01/2011
Bangkok Post
The seven Thai suspects arrested for trespassing into Cambodia have plunged deeper into trouble as two of them have been slapped with an additional charge of espionage.

Under the new charge, Veera Somkwamkid, a coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, a splinter group of the yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), and Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, identified as Mr Veera's secretary, could face between five and 10 years in jail if found guilty.

The two were additionally charged with "collecting information which might damage Cambodia's national security", according to Phnom Penh Municipal Court officials.

The two are among the group of seven Thais arrested by Cambodian soldiers on Dec 29 last year, which included Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth, when they entered a disputed area claimed by Cambodia near Nong Jan village in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district adjacent to Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province.


The Cambodian court earlier charged them with illegal entry and trespassing on a military area.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen strongly reaffirmed yesterday his government's position to allow the Cambodian judicial process to take its course.

The Phnom Penh Post quoted Hun Sen as saying that the Thai parliamentarian and six other Thais arrested on trespassing charges will have to serve at least two-thirds of their jail sentences if convicted.

"Nobody, not even the United Nations or former Thai prime minister Thaksin [Shinawatra], could interfere in the Cambodian judicial process for an immediate release for them," Hun Sen said via the Bayon television station.

"We will talk about this further when the court has completed its procedure, but the law is the law, the court is the court, and the government cannot influence or order the court to do this or that for a political compromise."

If found guilty of the charges against them, the seven could file an appeal within 30 days.

Hun Sen said that on the night of Dec 29, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya called him about 10 times but he did not answer the phone.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday submitted bail requests for the seven Thai detainees with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said the court would make a decision on bail within five days.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called an urgent meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and Mr Kasit to discuss ways to help get the seven Thais released.

"We are looking at trends in the case. Our goal is to help them to be released and our sovereignty must not be violated," said Mr Abhisit.

Meanwhile, Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a leader of the Thai Patriots Network, said the Thai embassy in Cambodia had tried to bar the network's legal team from meeting the seven Thais. This could affect their court defence and consequently deprive them of an opportunity to return to Thailand.

He said the network had also petitioned the UN asking it to intervene.

"We will not accept the Cambodian court's ruling as the court procedures are not in line with the fourth Geneva Convention," he said.

Supreme Commander Songkitti Jaggabatara yesterday denied Cambodian media reports that Thai soldiers had shot at Cambodians along the border, saying the troops only fired in response to gangs who sneaked into Thailand to fell trees and then opened fire on the soldiers when discovered.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Possible cause for the arrest of Hun Hean and Chhieng Son, his deputy


Hun Hean (L) and Chhieng Son (R)
Monday, 10 January 2011
Excerpt from DAP-news
At 11:30PM on 07 June 2010, near the round-about next the gas station along the road to Siem Reap, in Village No. 1, O’Ambil commune, Sereysophon district, Banteay Meanchey province, the provincial cops raided a major drug trafficking operation and arrested 6 persons, the majority of whom are Vietnamese. The cops also confiscated 1,964 drug pills [ecstasy pills?] and 2 vehicles: a Honda CRV and a Toyota Camry. After the confiscations, the suspects were sent to the court, but the suspects spent several tens of thousands of dollars to secure the release of their vehicles and themselves. The release was done through a subterfuge by switching the declaration of the confiscation of drug pills to confiscation of medicine pills. However, 2 or 3 months later, the case was revealed and the cops performed an investigation that led to the removal of police officer Lim Mab and the arrest and accusation of Hun Hean, the Banteay Meanchey police commissioner, and Chhieng Son, his deputy.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Don't call me TRAITOR: Hoon Xhen's paranoia [-If the shoe fits, wear it!]


Prime Minister Hun Sen and Education Minister Im Sethy (right) enter the National Institute of Education on Sunday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)
Don't call me a traitor: PM

Monday, 10 January 2011
Cheang Sokha and Rebecca Puddy
The Phnom Penh Post
Prime Minister Hun Sen has again lashed out at critics of the January 7 holiday marking the 1979 overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, warning he will arrest anyone who accuses he or other senior officials of being “traitors” to the country.

“I would like to tell you not to curse as a national traitor,” Hun Sen said during a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh on Sunday.

“If you curse, it will be a problem, if you dare to use this word you will be arrested from your homes. Don’t talk about freedom of expression on this matter.”

The premier also warned that any politician or parliamentarian making similar criticisms would lose their parliamentary immunity and be arrested immediately.

“Whether or not you have parliamentary immunity, the father of parliamentary immunity will still arrest [you]. You can say whatever, or curse January 7, but don’t curse as a national traitor,” Hun Sen said.


In his speech, the prime minister also cautioned foreign countries against interfering if the government does make any arrests.

“I would like to give a message in advance, as it might happen in the future,” he added.

On Friday, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party held celebrations marking the 32nd anniversary of the January 7, 1979 overthrow of the Khmer Rouge by the Vietnamese army.

The January 7 holiday – known as Victory over Genocide Day – has attracted criticism, however, with some arguing the day should not be celebrated as it marks the moment Cambodia lost its national sovereignty and fell under the influence of Vietnam.

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann said Sunday that the day was more a celebration of the CPP’s birthday than a real symbol of national liberation.

He was also critical of the premier’s warning, saying citizens have a democratic right to criticise politicians and that the party’s position on the issue of January 7 would remain firm.

“If somebody has said traitor they have done nothing wrong,” Yim Sovann said.

“The prime minister is a public figure and he should accept criticism from the people. In a democratic society we have to accept criticism, or we are not a democracy.”
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
General Samit Virak arrested in land issues


General Samit Virak (C) (All Photos: CEN)



Samit Virak (C) taken into custody
10 January 2011
By Sopisith
Cambodia Express News
Translated from Khmer by Soy
While Samit Virak is only a one-star general, a picture of him was found wearing 3-star. The suspect smugly said that he took the picture with three stars while he still look young and handsome and he will be a 3-star general one day anyway.
Phnom Penh - General Samit Virak was arrested and sent to jail this afternoon. The Military Police raided the house of General Samit Virak, the deputy chief of the RCAF technical material department, who is suspected of involvement in land deals.

The raid took place at 11AM on 10 Jan 2011 at the general’s house located on 131 Betong Street, Sunway city, Damnak Thom village, Stung Meanchey commune, Meanchey district. The raid was performed under a warrant issued by Mok Seiha, the deputy prosecutor of the military tribunal.


General Sier Sambat, the information commissioner of the military police, General Hong Vinol, the research commissioner of the military police, along with Phnom Penh city and local military police raided General Samit Virak’s house. They found numerous proofs: 5 guns including an AK-47 rifle, 4 cars (2 1998 Landcruisers bearing army license plates; 1 black Lexus and 1 Honda CRV), and numerous documents involving thousands of hectares of land all over the country. Three of the general’s bodyguards were also arrested.

While Samit Virak is only a one-star general, a picture of him was found wearing 3-star. The suspect smugly said that he took the picture with three stars while he still look young and handsome and he will be a 3-star general one day anyway.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cambodia says Bangladesh keen on annual rice deals
PHNOM PENH Jan 10 (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that Bangladesh had offered to buy 200,000 tonnes of rice a year and that talks were resuming on exporting grain to Guinea.

Speaking at a university graduation ceremony in the capital, Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said talks were also continuing with the Philippines and Malaysia over rice exports.

"I agreed to sell rice and send experts to Guinea but it was stopped by the coup d'etat there," Hun Sen said. "Now we want to resume."

The West African state held elections in November after almost two years of military rule and a government is being put in place.


Cambodia has offered to sell 100,000 tonnes of rice a year to the Philippines, the world's biggest rice buyer, but no deal has been reached yet.

Thon Virak, director general of state-owned rice exporter Green Trade, told Reuters the government had asked him to prepare for further talks with Bangladesh.

"I've been told to prepare paperwork for further discussion," Thon Virak said, adding that Guinea was looking for about 20,000 tonnes a year from Cambodia.

Cambodia introduced a policy last year to boost rice exports, including the development of a credit guarantee scheme.

It is targeting annual exports of 1 million tonnes within five years, a dramatic increase from the current volume of about 20,000 tonnes of milled rice. Much of its output goes over the border to Vietnam to be milled and then re-exported.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cambodian court to decide on fate of 7 arrested Thais: Hun Sen
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 10 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday dismissed a possible political deal on the fate of a Thai ruling party lawmaker and six other Thai political activists who have been charged with illegally crossing into Cambodian territory late last month.

Speaking to a gathering of college students, Hun Sen said only the Cambodian courts have the right to decide the case.

"Intervention from any quarters will not be accepted at this moment," he said, adding that he does not expect the case to affect relations with Thailand.

Thai Democrat Party parliamentarian Panich Vikitsreth and six activists of the People's Alliance for Democracy allegedly crossed the border between Thailand's Sa Kaeo Province and Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey Province on Dec. 29 and were detained by Cambodian soldiers.

They were charged by a Cambodian court on Dec. 30 with entering Cambodia illegally and trespassing in a Cambodian military zone.


Panich, a member of a parliamentary committee on boundary affairs and a former vice foreign minister, was quoted by Thai media as saying the seven visited a disputed border area after receiving a complaint from Thai villagers who claimed that Cambodian troops had intruded into their rice fields.

Thai media reports said Panich and his group were walking in a paddy field when they were detained.

On Monday, the prosecutor at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court filed an additional charge against two Thai activists for attempting to collect information "that may cause harm to Cambodia's defense affairs."

The Cambodian court has not yet decided on the date of the trial.

Since Cambodia's ancient temple of Preah Vihear in a border area claimed by Thailand was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008, Thai and Cambodian troops have faced off in the area and deadly skirmishes have erupted on several occasions.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Thai activists seek UN help for seven Thais detained in Cambodia
BANGKOK, Jan 10 (MCOT online news) – The Thai Patriots Network on Monday submitted a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN office in Bangkok seeking assistance for seven Thais detained in Cambodia.

Chaiwat Sinsuwong led activists from the Thai Patriots Network to the world body’s Bangkok regional headquarters to present the letter to the UN Secretary-General.

Mr Chaiwat said that that matter was of concern to the UN because the area where the seven were arrested was used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to accommodate Cambodian refugees in 1975 after asking for permission from Thailand.

After the UNHCR moved out, some Cambodians have continued to live there. Accordingly, Thailand believes the arrest of the seven Thais is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Mr Chaiwat said, arguing that the Cambodian court has no authority to rule in the case but must send it to an international body for adjudication.


The network called on the UN to help the seven detainees, he said, adding that he believed the letter would reach the UN secretary-general on Tuesday and the group's overseas members will follow up on the reaction from the world body.

The seven Thais, including Democrat MP for Bangkok Panich Vikitsreth and Thai Patriots Network leader Veera Somkwamkid, were arrested by Cambodian soldiers Dec 29 as they inspected the border area in Sakaeo province.

The detainees face two charges -- one of illegal entry into the Cambodian kingdom, punishable by three to six months of imprisonment and deportation, while the other involved trespass into a Cambodian military area without permission, punishable by a three to six months jail term and Bt7,500-15,000 in fines.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Hun Sen shuns UN mediation [... so does Abhisit!]
10/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen says no one, including the United Nations, can intervene in the case of the seven Thai detainees, and insists only the Cambodian court will decide their fate, according to a report published by China's People's Daily News online.

"There are many comments these days, and also a publication said yesterday that Thaksin [Shinawatra] or the Puea Thai Party want to intervene into the case of the seven arrested Thais," Mr Hun Sen said during a graduation ceremony at the Vanda Institute in Phnom Penh on Monday, the daily's English service reported.

"I just confirm that no one can intervene in the judicial system, neither the government, nor foreigners, or Cambodians.

"I tell them that it is impossible, no matter which path you enter from, even from the United Nations, because the case is now under the full authority of the Cambodian court, which must be respected."


Mr Hun Sen's comments prompted Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call an urgent meeting with Deputy Prime Minister overseeing security Suthep Thaugsuban, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to disucss the best way to expedite the release of the seven Thai border-crossers now being held at Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh.

Mr Abhisit said the first priority of the government is to help the detained Thais, who include Democrat Party MP Panich Vikitsreth.

Mr Hun Sen's hard line could dash the Thai Patriots Network's plan to ask the UN to help secure the release of the detainees.

Network leader Chaiwat Sinsuwong said the group, which is allied with the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy, rejected the Cambodian court’s authority in the matter. The case should be regarded as an international issue.

He claimed Cambodia “abducted” Thai people from Thai soil and the problem could be solved only by mediating agencies such as the UN.

He said the government wanted the case to be tried in the court so that it could ask for the release of the seven defendants on bail, or request the Cambodian monarch to grant them a royal pardon.

A leading member of the Thai Patriots Network, Veera Somkwamkid, is among those arrested. He has been previously convicted of illegal entry and there were unconfirmed reports from Phnom Penh today that he might also be charged with spying, which carries a 10 year jail sentence.

Foreign minister's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the ministry hoped the seven Thais would not face extra charges.

The ministry would weigh up the situation before reporting to Prime Minister Abhisit on whether he should make a direct phone call to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The secretary said all seven detainees were allowed meetings this morning with relatives who travelled to Phnom Penh last night.

The seven were arrested by Cambodian soldiers on Dec 29 while on an "inspection trip" near a disputed border area in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district adjacent to Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province.

The Cambodian court charged them with illegal entry and illegal trespass on a military zone. The two charges carry a combined maximum penalty of 18 months in jail.

Meanwhile, Second Army chief Thawatchai Samutsakhon denied a report that Thai soldiers killed innocent Cambodians on Sunday, saying the troops were only protecting a wildlife refuge in Si Sa Ket which has been encroached upon by illegal loggers.

Lt-Gen Thawatchai said the soldiers retaliated after an unidentified group of trespassers ignored their warnings and fired shots at them.

The clash erupted when the soldiers spotted and challenged the strangers while patrolling Phanom Dongrak Wildlife Sanctuary in Khun Han district in Si Sa Ket, which borders Cambodia.

Lt-Gen Thawatchai was reacting to a report that Cambodian authorities intend to send a photo of Cambodians killed by Thai soldiers to the Thai government.

Thai soldiers returned to the scene of the clash in the forest this morning and found chainsaws and evidence of trees being cut. They did not see any injured or dead people, he said.

Immigration police at a border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo have arrested a woman reporter who is wanted on an arrest warrant for taking part in the yellow-shirts' occupation of two Bangkok airports in 2008.

Police said Tonfan Saeng-atit, 52, was apprehended late Sunday night as she went to cross the border to cover the prosecution of the seven detained Thais being held in Phnom Penh.

She was escorted to the Crime Suppression Division head office in Bangkok today.

Ms Tonfan denied involvement in any wrongdoing and was later released on 300,000 baht bail.

Ms Tonfan, a reporter for FM TV and 13 Siam Thai TV Online, is wanted under an arrest warrant. She is accused of taking part in the People’s Alliance for Democracy's seizure of Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports in 2008. The protesters were demanding the resignation of then Somchai Wongsawat government, which was viewed as being a nominee of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The PAD has also played an active role in protesting against Cambodia’s claims of ownership of disputed areas along the border.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
[Thai] PM meets top security officials to help Thais detained in Cambodia
BANGKOK, Jan 10 (MCOT online news) – Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday called an urgent meeting with top security officials to find measures to help seven Thai detainees who continue in Cambodian custody.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya attended the meeting.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the prime minister said the meeting discussed measures to assist the seven men after the Cambodian court delivers its verdict with an aim to secure their release without any residual impact on the country.

“We will map out clear guidelines, but [that] cannot be elaborated now. The issue must be followed up and revised. So far, there has been no discussion on downgrading relations,” Mr Abhisit said.


The Thai premier made the statement after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen stated that only the Cambodian court would decide the fate of the seven Thai detainees.

"I simply confirm that no one can intervene in the judicial system, neither the government, nor foreigners, or Cambodians,” Mr Hun Sen was quoted as saying during a graduation ceremony at the Vanda Institute in Phnom Penh on Monday.

"I tell them that it is impossible, no matter which path you enter from, even from the United Nations, because the case is now under the full authority of the Cambodian court, which must be respected," he said.

Meanwhile, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said a lawyer has already submitted a bail request for the seven Thais and it will take no more than five days for the court to consider it. If the court grants bail and sets bail conditions, the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh stands ready to provide assistance to them.

Mr Thani however said the Cambodian court has set no date for the ruling but progress is expected in the next few days.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Mekong River: To dam or not to dam?


Traditional Lao village life is threatened by proposed dams across the Mekong River. [Image Credit: Thomas Raynaud]



A few of the 850-plus species of Mekong fish, many of them unique to the river [Image Credit: Thomas Raynaud]
Hydropower might help the region but risks loss of biodiversity and a way of life

January 10, 2011
By Rachel Nuwer
ScienceLine.org

The sleepy Lao village of Ban Hat exists today much as it has for decades. Village children dart amongst their families’ fishing boats, laughing as they splash one another with the muddy water of the Mekong River. Life is defined by the ebb and flow of the Mekong, which ushers in fish for families and nutrients for crops and pools in flooding cycles essential for rice production.

This source of subsistence could soon be threatened, however: The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) recently took steps to begin construction on the first of 12 proposed hydropower dams on the Mekong. While these projects could bring much-needed revenue to Laos and its neighboring Southeast Asian countries, they would irrevocably alter the characteristics of the river, impacting everything from fishes to flooding. And the dams’ most significant costs would be shouldered by those who can least afford it, some experts say — especially poor villagers in small riverside communities like Ban Hat.

Laos’ proposal to build a dam in Sayaburi Province, in the middle stretch of the Mekong, has provoked a lengthy debate. Viraphonh Viravong, director of the Lao Department of Electricity, believes the project will bring many benefits to his country, although he admits a serious risk is posed to fisheries. Researchers’ concerns extend beyond fisheries, however. The dams “will have profound . . . negative consequences for people, agriculture, fisheries, and riverine ecology,” said Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute research associate Tyson Roberts who has studied Mekong fishes for over 40 years. “For reasons I have not quite fathomed, engineers are often ignorant when it comes to ecological impacts of hydrodams,” he said.


As one of the world’s last remaining large rivers free from mainstream dams for most of its 2700-mile length, the Mekong continues to harbor a rich diversity of animal species such as the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish and Irrawaddy dolphin. Although the Mekong ranks as the 10th longest river in the world, its biodiversity of species is trumped only by the Amazon River. With an estimated annual harvest of approximately 2.2 million tons of fish, the Mekong, which flows through China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, also ranks as the world’s largest inland fishery and impacts the livelihoods of the nearly 30 million people who live within 10 miles of its lower stretches.

Dams usually bring economic benefits but often result in environmental and social losses, explained Eric Baran, senior scientist at the international research organization WorldFish Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In the case of the Mekong dams, Baran said the potential losses in fish resources would be “massive,” dramatically impacting both the environment and food security of local people. In addition, he believes the Mekong countries are not fully aware of these consequences and are ill prepared to handle the magnitude of changes that will be brought on by dam development. And Roberts said that the dams will benefit only a select few people, while those depending upon the river “are all going to be the immediate losers, with no benefits.”

Initial assessments suggest that Vietnam could actually face substantial losses if upstream countries like Laos decide to dam the river, said socio-economist John Sawdon of the independent public interest organization the International Center for Environmental Management based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Although economic benefits are attractive for “cash-strapped” governments, he said, profits and energy benefits would be unevenly distributed, both between and within countries and particularly to the poor.

Baran states that there is “absolutely no hope” for the survival of already vanishing long-distance migrant species such as the Mekong giant catfish if dam construction proceeds. Up to 70 percent of fish species in the Mekong migrate long distances to feed and spawn, and dams would both physically block their upstream journey as well as change the environmental signals that trigger migration, Baran explained in a paper published in the environmental journal AMBIO last June.

Fisheries in the Mekong have already been declining over the past decade, according to Philippe Cacot, a fish propagation researcher at the Center for International Research in Agricultural Development in Montpellier, France. This decline — a result of overfishing and environmental degradation — will only get worse if the dams are built, he said.

The river’s flow will also be impacted, said Cacot, which is especially problematic for communities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Altering the Mekong’s flow could have a disastrous effect on agriculture. Any change in sediments and nutrients transported by the river — no matter how small — can change rice yields, Cacot explained. Manipulating the river’s flow could also allow for salt-water intrusion in the Delta, another major threat to agriculture.

Some organizations are working with the Lao government to assess the risks and offer scientific advice. The Mekong River Commission (MRC), created in 1995, researches sustainable development options for its national members — Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

“It’s multifaceted,” said MRC communications officer Tiffany Hacker regarding the ultimate decision to build. “You have to look at it holistically.” While there are definitely serious risks, Hacker said, there are also significant potential economic gains. “How you approach the project will determine the extent of the damage.”

An independent Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), commissioned by the MRC and published in October 2010, pointed out that one dam across the Lower Mekong mainstream would cause irrevocable change. Even with mitigation measures, according to the SEA report, dam projects would “fundamentally undermine” the Mekong’s resources, represent a “global loss” in biodiversity through extinction of endangered species, and worsen poverty in already poor communities such as Ban Hat. By 2030, if all 12 proposed dams are built, between 550,000 to 880,000 tons of annual fish catch will be lost, said Baran and a team of 25 international scientists involved in SEA. The assessment concludes by calling for a 10-year construction deferral to allow for further study.

Despite this recommendation, Lao Department of Electricity’s Viravong said that consent of the other member countries now stands as the only obstacle to construction. “We believe it has been studied properly,” he stated, adding that Laos will make “good use” of the SEA report but cannot agree to the 10-year deferral plan “for studies and more studies and then more studies.” Viravong believes sustainable dam development can be attained without the deferral, although with “different degrees of certainties.”

According to Hacker, the next six months will determine the future of the river as member country representatives meet to weigh the pros and cons of the dam project, although at this point it’s too early to tell what that decision will be. The MRC provides advice, Hacker said, but the member countries will come to their own final building decision together.

The Smithsonian’s Roberts is skeptical, doubting that the SEA’s recommendations will have an impact if they run contrary to the Lao government’s intentions. Viravong said that Laos is following the MRC’s procedures of prior consultation with the other member countries, but that “we are confident that by April 2011 the other member countries, with the support of the MRC Secretariat, will endorse our proposal . . . to develop the Sayaburi [dam] project.”

Reports of scientific censorship could also threaten the integrity of the project. An anonymous fisheries scientist who worked in Laos for several years reported being pulled aside by a colleague and warned that nothing should be said against the dams, else the scientist’s stay in the country would be threatened. “I’m not in Laos,” the source said, “so I can speak freely now.” But the source fears that future work in Laos could be jeopardized by such a comment. Similarly, Roberts said that scientists working at the MRC — what he calls the “handmaiden of the member countries” — must tailor their views to fit the official line and therefore cannot provide the most honest advice. Hacker denies this claim, however, stating that “the fisheries program [of the MRC] is providing research to the government, not the other way around” and that “the MRC doesn’t have some kind of censor board.”

If damming proceeds, the unmitigated risks described in the SEA assessment would result in “a permanent and irreversible loss of environmental, social, and economic assets.” The true extent of these hidden costs will only be revealed if building proceeds, at which point the damage would have already been done. And while others reap the benefits, communities such as Ban Hat would primarily shoulder this burden.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cambodia Gets First Commercial Cow Farm

Monday, January 10, 2011
By Jenara Nerenberg
FastCompany.com
The country's current supply of fresh milk is entirely imported, but that is about to change with the introduction of New Zealand's Holstein cows.

Cambodia is set to get its first commercial cow farm this year with construction on a 247-acre farm breaking ground this month.

Cambodia's current supply of fresh milk is 100% imported and the cow farm is meant to change that--and as Cambodia is still largely agricultural, it's surprising that commercial cow farms don't already exist.

There was talk of an earlier joint cow farm venture between Cambodia's Mong Reththy Group (MRG) and the British farming company, Lordswood Farms, last year, but it's not clear if that panned out.


Either way, Cambodia is taking a leap in agricultural innovations this year and the farm that's set to open is a joint venture between the Cambodian 7NG Group and Sweden’s HPT Dairy Company. They entered into a $250 million deal whereby the highly productive Holstein cow breed will be imported from New Zealand with a goal of producing about 317,000 gallons of milk in the first year of operation. The farm is set to begin operating in November of 2011.

“This is the first time in history that our country will produce fresh cows’ milk,” said Srey Chanthou, managing director of 7NG Group. “We hope it will be successful, and that we can expand our business further.”

Cambodia is looking to expand its agricultural productivity in other ways--late last year the firm Angkor Kasekam Roongroeung announced plans to operate its first rice-husk-powered generator to, you guessed it, mill rice.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Banteay Meanchey police commissioner and his deputy arrested for drug involvement


Hun Hean, the former Banteay Meanchey police commissioner who was removed from his position on 07 January and arrested on 09 January (All photos: CEN)



Drug seized in Hun Hean's case



Drug and drug traffickers involved in Hun Hean's case

10 January 2011
By Mongkol
Cambodia Express News
Translated from Khmer by Soy
Banteay Meanchey – Hun Hean, the former Banteay Meanchey police commissioner who was removed from his position on 07 January, was arrested and taken in handcuff by cops from the ministry of Interior on 09 January.

Another deputy police commissioner, Chheang Son who was in charge of means – and of justice prior to that position, was also arrested but he was not handcuffed.

The arrest of the two Banteay Meanchey top cops is due to their involvements in drug trafficking in a major raid that took place recently. The case of these two cops are now in the hand of the Anti-Corruption Unit and the justice department of Banteay Meanchey.

Hun Hean was removed from his position on 07 January, following a visit by Sar Kheng, the vice-PM and minister of Interior, and by Ker Kim Yan, the chairman of the anti-drug trafficking unit, to Banteay Meanchey.

There were 3 persons already arrested in this case. [In addition to the two above,] Lim Mab, the former chairman of the provincial anti-drug trafficking unit, was arrested and jailed since 6 months ago. According to report, Hun Xen ordered the arrest of those involved in this drug trafficking.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Legal team meets Thai detainees in Phnom Penh
BANGKOK, Monday 10 January 2011 (Bernama) -- A legal team met seven Thai detainees in Phnom Penh Monday morning to find out more information -- as part of Thailand's attempts to seek for their freedom, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

The Thai legal team, who arrived in the Cambodian capital on Sunday, earlier met Cambodian defence lawyers and the Thai ambassador in Phnom Penh for the same purpose.

A Cambodian court spent almost 12 hours last Thursday to question each of the seven Thai detainees, including a Bangkok MP of the ruling Democrat Party, Panich Vikitsreth, and a leading activist aligned with the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy or PAD, Veera Somkwamkid, who were arrested by Cambodian soldiers in a border area on December 29 and have been all detained since then on charges of illegally entering into the Cambodian territory.

The Phnom Penh court has not yet set the date for its next hearing on the case and Thailand's attempts to seek for the release on bail of the seven Thai nationals have not yet been fulfilled.
Monday, January 10, 2011
PM calls meeting to help 7 Thais
10/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called an urgent meeting late Monday afternoon to discuss ways to expedite the release of the seven Thai border-crossers now being held at Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh.

Mr Abhisit said he will meet with Deputy Prime Minister overseeing security Suthep Thaugsuban, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Foreign minister's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the ministry hoped the seven Thais would not face extra charges.

The ministry would weigh up the situation before reporting to Prime Minister Abhisit about whether he should to make a direct phone call to Prime Minister Hun Sen.


The secretary said all seven detainees were allowed meetings this morning with relatives who travelled to Phnom Penh last night.

The seven were arrested by Cambodian soldiers on Dec 29 while on an "inspection trip" near a disputed border area in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district adjacent to Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province.

The Cambodian court charged them with illegal entry and illegal trespass on a military zone. The two charges carry a combined maximum penalty of 18 months in jail.