Cambodian gov't guarantees safety for all Thais, no sign against Thais: official

www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-14 23:54:33

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will guarantee safety and security for Thais including diplomats, business people and travelers in the country, government official said on Saturday.

"The Cambodian government will ensure the safety and security for all Thais like diplomats, business people, travelers and other foreigners staying in Cambodia," Koy Kuong, spokesman and undersecretary of state of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation told Xinhua.

"Thais should not be afraid of staying in Cambodia, the Royal Government will ensure security for them," he said.

"We do not see any sign to protest against Thais or to run riot at Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh," Koy Kuong said, adding that no sign of riots against Thais at all. Cambodian government has responsibility for all Thais as Thai government does for our people and diplomats in their country, he stressed.

It is a response to some Thais here who expressed their concern over the tit-for-tat moves taken by Cambodian and Thailand governments in recent days.

Relations between the two neighboring countries were further strained recently after Cambodia named ousted former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra its economic adviser on Nov. 4. Thailand recalled its ambassador on Nov. 5, and Cambodia followed suit.

Those Thais worried that the rows between the two countries will result into any riots against Thais in Cambodia as it was in 2003, in which a part of Thai embassy and some property of Thai companies were under fire.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Cambodian gov't guarantees safety for all Thais, no sign against Thais: official

Lucy Liu film highlights child trafficking

Published: Friday | November 13, 2009

CAIRO (AP):

Actress
Lucy Liu, who has produced a film about children sold into the sex trade in Cambodia, says the fight against human trafficking will be long.

Liu praised several projects funded by the United Nations (UN) children's agency in Egypt, where she was promoting the film Red Light at the Cairo International Film Festival.

The actress co-produced and narrated the movie, which follows the stories of a number of girls over the course of four years as they are kidnapped and sold to brothels in Cambodia.

conservative societies

Liu said on Wednesday it "is really going to take a really long time" to fight human trafficking, labelled the third most profitable business in the world after weapons and drugs trading.

That assessment rings true in the Middle East, where stigma in conservative societies and a lack of data have frustrated activists' efforts. Highlighting those challenges, organisers of several UNICEF-funded programmes Liu visited in Egypt did not even want to make details of their efforts public out of fear doing so would stir up controversy and pressure from conservatives.

"The first step is there are a couple of projects that exist and that is something wonderful," Liu said.

In Egypt, the sex trade is often hidden under the guise of temporary marriages sanctioned by some religious figures and local authorities. Under these marriages, hundreds of underage girls in rural Egypt are essentially sold by their families for large sums to wealthy visitors from Gulf nations.

Egypt recently passed its first child protection law, which criminalised trafficking and raised the age of marriage to 18.

The country's first lady, Suzanne Mubarak, launched a global initiative to fight human trafficking in 2006, signalling that there is a political will to confront an issue affecting nearly 2.4 million people around the world, according to 2007 figures from the UN International Labour Organisation.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/

Lucy Liu film highlights child trafficking

At 39, Loung Ung enters a new phase of writing and storytelling

Loung Ung has broken bread with Queen Noor of Jordan, lunched with Paul McCartney and opened her own restaurant, Bar Cento, in Ohio City.

At 39, she is a world away from the childhood starvation that distended belly and drove her to swallow rotten leaves. Born into an upper-middle-class family, Ung was 10 when she fled Cambodia with an older brother. Eventually, they learned that more than 20 relatives, including both their parents, had been murdered by the Khmer Rouge.

Those privations are contained in her 2000 memoir, "First They Killed My Father," a story that Ung tells in a child's voice. It is now widely taught and has been translated into 10 languages.

Critics have praised her as the Anne Frank of Pol Pot's killing fields.

Nevertheless, Ung said she was surprised to be asked to speak Sunday at the Cleveland Public Library. The memoirist and activist described the invitation as an unanticipated honor.

For local authors, it signals an arrival of sorts. Ung, who lives in Shaker Heights, will deliver her speech in English, her fourth language, after Khmer, Chinese and French. In advance of the Writers & Readers talk, she agreed to answer a few questions.

In your peripatetic anti-land mine work, you've become a professional lecturer. How do you find the proper distance for telling your own story?

My work has evolved from personal writing, writing that was therapeutic, a way to take away the power of those soldiers, who were monsters and gods of mythical proportion.

It changed next to activist writing, interviews with those at the rehabilitation centers [in Cambodia], writing that can actually do something. Now I write because I really enjoy it. I'm in a third phase that combines the internal and external. Honestly, I love it.

Memoir as a genre has taken a beating since the James Frey fiasco. Where do you see it now?

I think it is swinging back. I'm one who believes there are always going to be a few bad apples. And I've read many novels that are inauthentic.

Memoir is a collection of memories -- different from biography or autobiography. For me, it started as a beautiful form. People tell me all the time that my books read like novels.

One hundred and 20 million people have survived some kind of war. And the stories of all the Cambodians who survived seem like fiction to Americans. I get mail every day from readers, and they often say it took them years to open my book.

You know with something called "First They Killed my Father" that you're not in for a funny, rock 'n' roll ride.

Your second book, "Lucky Child," focuses on the parallel life of your older sister, Chou, who stayed in Cambodia. How is she now?

She's fabulous. She's 41 and a grandmother for the second time. She's really happy.

When I last saw her, I was watching her brush her hair. Most Cambodian girls do have long hair, and the bonding thing between sisters and cousins is you brush each other's hair.

She asks me, "Who brushes your hair?" and I have to say, "I do." It is so good for me to spend time around her. I've been back to Cambodia many, many times.

You've suggested, intriguingly, that your family may have picked you, the sixth of seven children, to escape with your brother because you were combative, and therefore more likely to survive but harder to marry off in Cambodia.

In every culture, being a tomboy is not highly prized. But my father praised me; he saw it as a sort of cleverness. My mother didn't like it. She'd always been two-dimensional to me -- my mother, my father's wife. [Ung last saw her mother alive when she was 8.]

But I'm writing a book now about my mother, and I'm newly in love with her. I've interviewed her best friend, my uncle and my aunt. She was really funny and spunky and a woman before her time.

At 39, Loung Ung enters a new phase of writing and storytelling

Author's found write balance in Cambodia

A FORMER Cleethorpes resident is enjoying a new life in Cambodia as a self-published author.

Robert Webster's debut novel – Buddha's Tooth, which features characters from Cleethorpes – sold 1,700 copies inside a year and was downloaded from the Internet more than 7,500 times within three months.

The 49-year-old, who used to live in Edward Street and was schooled at Matthew Humberstone, has a second book currently in production and a third planned.

Mr Webster lived in Thailand for many years and moved to Sihanoukville, in south-east Cambodia, about three years ago.

He said: "I was bored a few years ago and decided to try to write a novel.
Click here for more

"I thought it would be hard but it was not only easy but a lot of fun."

Read more about Mr Webster's life in Cambodia in today's Grimsby Telegraph.

You can download Buddha's Tooth by clicking the link on this page.

Author's found write balance in Cambodia

PM Abhisit: Thai-Cambodian diplomatic standoff must be resolved by both parties

SINGAPORE, Nov 14 (TNA) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Saturday that the ongoing diplomatic spat between Thailand and its neighbour Cambodia will not affect cooperation among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), emphasising that the problem must be solved by the two countries.

Mr Abhisit, now at the three-day 17th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Singapore, told journalists that ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan advised that Thailand and Cambodian should resolve their tensions before ASEAN leaders meet US President Barack Obama on Sunday. He affirmed that Thailand, currently chairman and a member of ASEAN, will not raised the issue at the meeting.

Thailand and Cambodia, along with Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, are ASEAN members.

Mr Abhisit said he would confer with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the sidelines of US-ASEAN summit Sunday.

Diplomatic ties between the Cambodia and Thailand have worsened after their ambassadors were recalled, first secretaries expelled and the Cambodian government arrested a Thai man allegedly spying on fugitive, ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but Thailand has said that the accusation was groundless against the Thai citizen.

Cambodia Deputy National Police Chief Lt-Gen Sok Phal was quoted by the Associated Press as saying 31-year-old Siwarak Chothipong gave Mr Thaksin’s flight schedule to the first secretary at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

Mr Abhisit said Thai government officials would try to meet detained Mr. Siwarak and ask him what charges have been leveled.

The Thai prime minister said he would be surprised if the Cambodian government refuses Thai officials an opportunity to meet Mr Siwarak, an engineer at Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS).

He added that the flight information was not considered as secret. (TNA)

Political News : Last Update : 14:51:25 14 November 2009 (GMT+7:00)

PM Abhisit: Thai-Cambodian diplomatic standoff must be resolved by both parties

Ousted Thai PM rallies supporters to Cambodia

Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stands in front of Angkor Wat, the country's most popular tourist destination, during his private tour to the north province of Siem Reap, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin has accused his detractors of false patriotism in a speech Thursday, following the uproar over his appointment as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

By SOPHENG CHEANG (AP) – PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Thailand said Friday it would not be provoked into violence in its diplomatic tussle with Cambodia over fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, even as the ousted leader taunted the Bangkok government by meeting with political supporters in the neighboring country.

Thaksin's visit to Thailand's doorstep has highlighted his ability to command headlines in his homeland and destabilize its politics, even three years after he lost power and fled into exile.

Dozens of opposition politicians and other Thaksin supporters drove across the border into Cambodia to meet with the ousted leader, irritating Thailand's government, which considers him a convicted criminal and a threat to its power.

Thaksin's warm welcome in Cambodia has strained already uneasy bilateral relations.

On Thursday, Cambodia expelled a senior Thai diplomat and arrested a Thai employee of Cambodia Air Traffic Services — which manages flights in the country — for allegedly stealing Thaksin's flight schedule and giving it to the diplomat.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications billionaire, was ousted by a 2006 military coup. He fled Thailand last year to avoid imprisonment on a corruption charge and now spends most of his time in Dubai.

Thaksin "is using a helping hand from a neighboring country as a tool to overthrow the monarchy and the Thai government," Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Friday in Bangkok.

Thaksin's political battle with the Thai government — which came to power this year after months of protests aimed at removing the former leader's allies from power — has bitterly divided his country.

He accuses Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of having taken control by undemocratic means. Thaksin remains hugely popular among the rural poor, who have staged frequent rallies calling for his return to power, but he is reviled by many in the educated urban elite.

Abhisit said Friday that Cambodia's expulsion of the Thai diplomat was intended to provoke a "violent response" from his government, but that he would respond peacefully.

"The Thai government didn't fall for their trick," he told reporters in Bangkok.

Thaksin was named an adviser to Cambodia's government on economic affairs last week, causing Thailand to recall its ambassador, with Cambodia following suit. On Wednesday, Cambodia rejected a Thai request for Thaksin's arrest, saying he was being prosecuted for political reasons.

Nationalist passions have been running high on both side of the border since Thailand opposed Cambodia's bid to have an ancient temple designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Preah Vihear temple was awarded to Cambodia by the World Court in 1962, but some land around it remains in dispute.

Both countries deployed troops to the border over the dispute, leading to skirmishes that left at least seven soldiers dead.

Cambodia on Friday withdrew 1,000 special forces troops from the disputed border area, though others remained.

"We are withdrawing our forces because we want Thailand to understand that Cambodia wants the border of the two countries to stay peaceful and for the area to be developed for the sake of both countries," deputy commander in chief Lt. Gen. Chea Tara said.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Ousted Thai PM rallies supporters to Cambodia

Cambodia Raises Stakes, as Ties with Thailand Plummet

By MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR / IPS WRITER

BANGKOK — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is known for his brash and earthy vocabulary even when, as he did in early April, he talks about himself. “I am neither a gangster nor a gentleman, but a real man,” the politician who has led his country for 25 years said in a fit of rage.

The target of his ire at the time was Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, following comments the latter had made during a parliamentary debate in the Thai capital.

Hun Sen criticized Kasit for calling him a “gangster” during that debate, but Kasit shot back, saying his description of Hun Sen in Thai had got lost in translation. The actual words were “Nak Leng,” Kasit had explained, which in Thai means “a person who is lion-hearted, a courageous and magnanimous gentleman.”

It was Kasit’s second run-in with the Cambodian leader in under a year. In late 2008, when the former veteran Thai diplomat was in the political wilderness as a speaker for a conservative, right-wing protest movement, he had called Hun Sen a “thug” during a speech at a public rally.

If the new Thai government, formed under a cloud of controversy last December, was hoping that Hun Sen would move on from such moments, then the current war of words between the two countries suggests otherwise.

“The Thais seem to have forgotten that Hun Sen has a very good memory. He does not forget easily,” a Southeast Asian diplomat from a regional capital told IPS on the condition of anonymity. “He unearths details and history he knows well to go after those who criticize him.”

But the current war of words between Cambodia and Thailand has degenerated into personal insults and a trading of charges about interfering into each country’s judicial and domestic affairs.

Hun Sen raised the stakes this week in an increasingly volatile relationship between the two Southeast Asian kingdoms by targeting his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vejjajiva, in a verbal barrage.

“I would not be surprised if there was a link here with comments made by political allies of Abhisit,” the diplomat added. “It is Hun Sen getting back.”

Besides words, Phnom Penh also rejected a request by Bangkok on Wednesday for the extradition of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to begin his new role as Hun Sen’s economic advisor.

Thaksin, whose popular elected government was turfed out of power in a 2006 military coup, has been living in exile to avoid a two-year jail term after a Thai court found him guilty in a conflict-of-interest case.

To goad the Abhisit administration, Hun Sen welcomed Thaksin with open arms and handshakes, and offered his own villa in Phnom Penh for the fugitive former Thai premier to stay in.

Bangkok has not fallen for Phnom Penh’s bait, for now. Even though it bristles at such hospitality and the verbal salvos, the Thai government is trying to stay above the fray, offering statements that appear calm and diplomatic.

“The government is stressing that the problem between both countries is still a bilateral issue,” Thani Thongphakdi, the Thai Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesman, told IPS. “We want to see a positive sign from Cambodia that gives precedence to bilateral ties over personal relationships.”

Yet at the same time, the Thai government is taking a tougher line towards the range of ties it maintains with its eastern neighbor. “We are reviewing existing agreements, existing cooperation and future cooperation between the two countries,” Thani revealed. “Everything is on the table.”

Bangkok’s unilateral actions against Cambodia has already seen the Thai ambassador in Phnom Penh withdrawn and Thailand revoking a memorandum of understanding between the two countries to explore oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand.

It followed Hun Sen’s tongue-lashing that targeted Abhisit. “People should know that when I was starting my political career, [Abhisit] was still a child running around, playing,” Hun Sen told Cambodian journalists on Sunday.

“If Abhisit is so sure of himself, then he should call an election. What are you afraid of? Is it that you are afraid you will not be the prime minister?” Hun Sen continued, driving home his status as Southeast Asia’s longest-standing premier, as opposed to Abhisit, who has been in office for less than a year.

“I am prime minister of Cambodia who has received two-thirds of the vote in the Cambodian parliament. How many votes does Abhisit have? You have chosen somebody else’s chair to seat yourself in,” goaded Hun Sen, referring to the question of legitimacy that has dogged the Abhisit government. “You claim other people’s property as your own.

How can we respect that?”

The 57-year-old Hun Sen has been Cambodia’s premier for 25 years, a period during which he has not shied from revealing his authoritarian streak, using a mix of violence, intrigue and verbal attacks to cling to power. His journey to power began on the economic and social fringes of the poorer Cambodia, including a short stint when still a teenager as a soldier for the genocidal Khmer Rouge in the later 1970s.

The 45-year-old Abhisit hails from the opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum, being born into wealth, enjoying a British education and feeling at home among Thailand’s patricians. He formed a coalition government after a controversial court ruling last December saw the collapse of the elected government. Through a combination of military influence and cash enticements to broker a deal, his Democrat-led government came to power by parliamentary vote rather than by going to the polls in a general election.

Hun Sen’s penchant for dipping into his country’s history to take on the Abhisit administration is also threatening to expose a darker side of Thailand’s relationship with its poorer and weaker eastern neighbor.

To counter Bangkok’s current charges that Phnom Penh is interfering in Thailand’s internal politics and judicial system by rolling out the welcome mat for Thaksin, Hun Sen retorts by reminding the Thais about the hospitality they offered to Khmer Rouge leaders like Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, now about to face justice in a United Nations war crimes tribunal.

“The Thai judiciary has not much value to be respected,” Hun Sen said during his weekend encounter with Cambodian journalists. “Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea were living in Thailand for years. This was a violation of international law that Thailand had signed.”

“Hun Sen is absolutely correct,” said Tom Fawthrop, co-author of “Getting away with Genocide? Elusive Justice and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.” “In fact, after 1979, when the Khmer Rouge were driven out of Cambodia by Vietnam, [Khmer Rouge leader] Pol Pot and other leaders all fled to Thailand.”

“The Khmer Rouge’s fight to regain power was aided by logistics and weapons that flowed through Thailand, even tanks,” Fawthrop, a regional expert who spends time in Phnom Penh, told IPS. “The Thais violated the international law after the 1991 Paris peace accord by letting the Khmer Rouge operate along its border, which was not the case along the Vietnamese and Laotian borders.”

Hun Sen’s current anti-Abhisit rhetoric may not be the isolated views of Cambodia’s leader but may find resonance among its people, added Fawthrop. “The Thai-Cambodian relationship has to be looked at in a historical context. The Cambodians feel a huge sense of grievance.”


http://www.irrawaddy.org/

Cambodia Raises Stakes, as Ties with Thailand Plummet