[Thai] Lawyers gather data to defend Veera, Ratri

January 29, 2011
The Nation

A team of lawyers for the Thai Patriots Network went to the border area in Sa Kaew province yesterday to collect information for the defence of two Thai nationals facing trespassing and spying charges in Cambodia.

The eight-member group, led by Thammasat University researcher and TPN leader Walwipha Charoonroj, inspected the area in Ban Nong Chan of Sa Kaew's Khok Sung district where seven Thais were arrested by Cambodian authorities in December.

The legal team was guided by members of the Burapha Force's special taskforce in an operation led by deputy commander Lt-Colonel Apiram Ramanat.

Walwipha said the team had submitted a written request with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and had sought permission from Cambodian authorities to inspect the area. She said the information and facts obtained would be used to defend TPN leader Veera Somkwamkid and Ratri Pipattanapaiboon in court, which has scheduled the first hearing for Tuesday. The two face the additional charge of espionage.

The five other Thais who were arrested for trespassing, including Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth, recently returned home after being sentenced to a suspended jail term in Cambodia.

The TPN is part of the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy, which is rallying outside Government House to demand decisive action about the border conflict with Cambodia.

Before Walwipha's group arrived, Ban Nong Chan residents expressed dissatisfaction for fear the yellow shirts would stage a protest, which would further complicate the situation in the border area. However, they did not show much opposition after being told by the taskforce that the lawyers' group would be small and that they were only visiting to collect information.

In a related development, Cambodian forces stationed at the border area near the Preah Vihear temple are in two minds about bringing down the Cambodian flag raised at another temple in the disputed area, a security source said yesterday.

Cambodian military commanders General Chea Dara and Maj-General Srey Doek agree with Thailand's demand that the flag raised at Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvara be taken down, while other commanders disagreed, the source said.

Hundreds of Cambodian troops - stationed since the controversy over a stone tablet in which Thai troops were called "intruders" and the disputed area marked as "Here is Cambodia" - are still in place along with heavy weaponry and some 30 tanks.

The source described the border situation as being tense, though no serious incidents have taken place.

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New rocket battalion planned [by Thai army - Is it in response to Cambodia?]

Cambodia tested its BM-21 missile launchers in March 2010 (Photo: AFP)

25/01/2011
Bangkok Post

The army has plans for a new battalion to be equipped with multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRLs), attached to the existing Lop Buri-based Artillery Division, an army source said.

Under the plan, a large number of MBRLs will be bought from the Defence Technology Institute (DTI), an organisation under the Defence Ministry.

DTI, in collaboration with the army of China, has produced a prototype DTI-1 MBRL, using technology transferred from China.

On Monday, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the Artillery Division in Lop Buri where they took receipt of the first of the MBRLs developed by DTI.

MBRL systems are in wide use with the Cambodian military, which has large numbers of them.

The source said the plan ned new battalion has the support of the prime minister, who sees it as a way of boosting the army's capability.

At the hand-over ceremony, Gen Prayuth said it has been the army's wish since 1988 to have a rocket company. At present, the defence minister has approved in principle the development of MBRLs and the newly developed weapon has been tested.

Lt-Gen Thitinan Tunyasiri, the DTI director, said the MBRL prototype is very important as its technology can be use to develop a guided missile system to respond to demands from various army units.

In the near future, the DTI will proceed with other projects to build unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), signal jammers, combat auxiliary systems, and amphibious assault vehicles (AAV), to reduce reliance on imports from abroad, he said.

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Thai PM: Cambodian court's verdict no effect on border dispute

January 24, 2011
Xinhua

Recent verdict by a Cambodian court finding five Thais guilty of illegal entry into the neighboring country will have no implication on ongoing negotiations to settle border disputes between the two nations.

On a special televised program broadcast nationwide on Sunday's evening, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said: "There has been nowhere that the Thai government has said it will accept the Cambodian court's verdict on the border demarcation."

Abhisit said the verdict will only bind the individuals or parties involved in the court case.

He said any demarcation on the common border's disputed areas will have to be worked out under the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in 2000 between Thailand and Cambodia.

Last Friday, five Thais, including Panich Vikitsreth, a Bangkok MP of Abhisit's Democrat Party, were found guilty by a court in Phnom Penh of illegal entry into Cambodia and trespassing into a military area.

Each was given nine months of imprisonment and fined one million riels (250 U.S. dollars), but the jail term is suspended.

The five returned to Bangkok on Saturday after spending almost a month in Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh.

Abhisit said the five Thais were arrested on Dec. 29 by Cambodian soldiers when they were on the Cambodian side of a line currently being used by both countries as the "working border line ".

But the Thai premier said the line was not the demarcation under the MOU, and that his government, which has been in contact with Phnom Penh since the arrest, had never told Cambodia that the Thais were on Cambodian territory when being arrested.

He said the Thai government will need to comply with the MOU's mechanism in settling the border disputes with Cambodia as there is no other framework to do so.

Two other Thais, also being arrested with the five on Dec. 29, are still being detained in Prey Sar prison for additional charges of espionage.

They include Veera Somkwamkid - a leader of the nationalistic Thailand Patriots Network, whose supporters have been protesting in Bangkok against the Abhisit government for its mishandling of the Thai-Cambodian border disputes.

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New border crossing [between Cambodia and Thailand] hits snag

13/01/2011
Bangkok Post

The opening of a new permanent border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia may be further delayed by the current tension along the border, Burapa Task Force commander Maj-Gen Walit Rojanapakdi said on Thursday.

Maj-Gen Walit, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, was referring to the new border checkpoint between Ban Nong Ian in tambon Tha Kham of Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo province and Stung Bo in Bantey Meanchey province of Cambodia.

Cambodia proposed the opening of this checkpoint two years ago. The proposal had been considered by a joint Thai-Cambodian committee, the Sa Kaeo governor, and the National Security Council (NSC). It is about to be forwarded to the cabinet for final approval.

The new checkpoint was intended to ease the heavy traffic through the Khlong Luek- Poi Pet checkpoint.

It is also part of an exclusive economic zone project to make Aranyaprathet the gateway to Cambodia, Vietnam and Indochina.

"As commander of a unit in the area, I will propose that the opening of the new border checkpoint be delayed for some time because it is not far from the the Klong Luek - Poi Pet checkpoint, where the situation is not yet normal.

"This would affect local people involved in the cross-border trade," Maj-Gen Walit said.

Ban Nong Ian is located between border posts Nos 50-51, where the boundary is clearly defined by a stream.

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