On 22 February 2010, Mr. Mohammed Ali Ahmed Omran Al Shamsi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), paid a courtesy call on Mr. Panich Vikitsreth, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, to discuss on the following matters:
- On 18 February 2010, the Criminal Court decided to extradite Mr. Michael Bryan Smith, a British national, on charges of document forgery and breach of trust, to the UAE. However, Mr. Smith still has 30 days to file an appeal against the Court decision. If the Court of Appeals turns down his appeal, the Criminal Court’s decision will be final. If otherwise, the officials will have to await the decision of the Court of Appeals to be made.
- In the past, the UAE had requested extradition of six cases from the Thai side, which one of suspect of fraud was extradited from Thailand to the UAE in 2006. The said matter reflected a positive sign for both countries’ cooperation even though the bilateral treaty on extradition has not yet concluded.
- The two countries undertook the first round of negotiation on the extradition treaty during 9-13 January 2010. At present, the Thai side is planning on hosting the second round of negotiation at the earliest opportunity, possibly within this year.
- Despite the fact that both countries have not yet signed the bilateral treaty on extradition, the Extradition Act B.E. 2551 (2008) allows Thailand to request for extradition, on similar charges, on the reciprocal basis.
- Thus, if the Thai court has an order to extradite Mr. Smith to the UAE on charges of document forgery and breach of trust, the assurance of reciprocity will not cover extraditing persons accused of different charges.
- With regards to Thailand’s request for the provisional arrest for extradition of Pol. Lt. Col. Thaksin Shinawatra, which was submitted to the UAE in late December 2009, the request has been acknowledged and being considered by the UAE.
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
-PM-