Following the recent appointment of Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin Shinawatra as economic adviser to the Royal Government of Cambodia and personal adviser to Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen and the decision to deny any request for extradition of Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin in accordance with the Extradition Treaty between Thailand and Cambodia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to state the following:
1. The Royal Thai Government has conveyed to the Royal Government of Cambodia on several occasions that bilateral relations between both countries should take precedence over any personal relationship.
2. Actions taken by the Royal Government of Cambodia involving Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin cannot be separated from relations between the two countries. As Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin is a fugitive in a criminal case and is still active politically in Thailand, such actions inevitably affect the sentiment of the people of Thailand.
3. The appointment of Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin as economic adviser to the Royal Government of Cambodia and personal adviser to Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen is therefore seen as interference in Thailand’s domestic affairs and failure to respect Thailand’s judicial system. It puts personal interest and relations before the national interests of the two countries.
4. Therefore, the Royal Thai Government cannot stand idly by and has to take into consideration the sentiment of its people. Any action taken by the Royal Thai Government is to make known to the Royal Government of Cambodia the resentment of the Thai people.
5. The aforementioned action of the Royal Government of Cambodia has thus compelled the Royal Thai Government to review its relations with Cambodia and to take the following measures:
5.1 Recall the Thai Ambassador to Phnom Penh.
5.2 Review all existing bilateral agreements and cooperation projects made with Cambodia.
5.3 Review ongoing cooperation that the Royal Thai Government has extended to Cambodia. It is with regret that the Royal Thai Government must undertake such a review as it has always been the Royal Thai Government’s commitment to cooperate with Cambodia for the development of the Cambodian people’s livelihood and to narrow the gap between Cambodia and other ASEAN member countries.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th