Cambodia jails Thai engineer over Thaksin flight leak

December 9 2009
By Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok
Financial Times (UK)

A Cambodian court yesterday sentenced a Thai engineer to seven years in jail for spying, in a decision likely to inflame the country's feud with Thailand.

The Phnom Penh court found Siwarak Chothipong guilty of passing the flight plan for Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's fugitive former prime minister, to a diplomat in the Thai embassy.

Mr Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile after a Thai court sentenced him to two years in jail for abuse of power , flew to Cambodia on a five-day visit last month. He was given VIP treatment by Hun Sen, the Cambodian prime minister, who had named him as a special economic adviser.

The appointment outraged Thailand and led to a diplomatic spat that saw both countries recall their ambassadors.

Mr Siwarak, an employee of the Cambodian Air Traffic Service, was accused of stealing information that the court said could have harmed national security.

He was arrested two days into Mr Thaksin's visit and accused of stealing the flight schedule and passing it to Kamrob Palawatwichai, the first secretary at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. Mr Kamrob was later expelled from the country.

The engineer conceded during the one-day hearing that he saw the details of the flight plan and passed them to Mr Kamrob but denied stealing the document. "I took a look at the flight schedule and made a phone call to Mr Kamrob," Mr Siwarak said. "But I didn't get a copy of the flight schedule and hand it over to anyone."

Two other staff from the Cambodia Air Traffic Service gave evidence saying Mr Siwarak had asked them about the schedule of Mr Thaksin's flight.

Ke Sakhan, the municipal court judge, ordered Mr Siwarak to pay a fine of $2,500 (€1,700, £1,500) in addition to the seven-year jail sentence - the minimum for spying.

Bangkok has portrayed the former prime minister as a traitor for accepting the appointment by the Cambodian government. Phnom Penh has also been taken to task for hosting a fugitive from Thai justice.