CAMBODIA Thai air traffic control staff to leave work
CAMBODIA has ordered all Thai air traffic control staff to leave work after one of them was arrested on charges of spying on fugitive Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, a company letter showed on Thursday. Thai-owned civil aviation company Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS), which oversees Cambodian air space, banned the Thai employees after a Cambodian government official was appointed caretaker of the firm. It was not immediately clear if the ban was temporary or permanent.
‘The caretaker has prohibited the Thai expatriates from performing their duties,’ said company vice-chairman Sirichai Rasameechan in an explanatory letter sent to Thailand’s stock exchange, where the company is listed.
The decision deepens a diplomatic crisis between the neighbouring countries over Cambodia’s appointment of Thaksin as an economic adviser and its refusal to extradite the ousted prime minister to Bangkok.
Siwarak Chothipong, 31, an employee at CATS, was arrested a week ago on charges of supplying details of Thaksin’s flight schedule to his country’s embassy when the Thai tycoon visited Phnom Penh last week.
CATS is a fully owned subsidiary of Bangkok-based Samart corporation, which has a 32-year air traffic control concession. Local media said the company employees nine Thai nationals.
Cambodian Court Sentences Thai Engineer to 7 Years in Jail
The Cambodian Municipal Court sentences Thai engineer Sivarak Chutipong to 7 years in jail on an espionage charge. His mother, who was present inside the court room, fell to the floor.
Sivarak’s legal representative plans to petition for an amnesty while Sivarak remains in Cambodian authorities custody.
Cambodia’s king pardons Thai engineer convicted of spying
PHNOM PENH, Dec. 11 KYODO
Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni on Friday pardoned a Thai man who was earlier this week imprisoned for espionage, a government spokesman told Kyodo News.