Cambodia picks Thailand's Thaksin as adviser

• Source: Global Times
• [02:49 November 06 2009]
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Cambodia said Wednesday that it had appointed fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as economic adviser to Premier Hun Sen in a move that adds to tensions between the two countries.

The appointment was announced on state television almost two weeks after Hun Sen first riled Thailand by offering safe haven to Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and is living abroad to avoid a jail sentence for corruption.

"Thaksin has already been appointed by royal decree ... as personal adviser to Cambo-dian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and the adviser to the Cambodian government in charge of the economy," according to a government statement read on television. "Allowing Thaksin to stay in Cambodia is virtuous behavior. ... Good friends need to help each other in difficult circumstances."

The statement went on to call the charges against Thaksin "politically motivated" and vowed not to extradite him if he "decides to stay in Cambodia or travels in and out of Cambodia in order to fulfill his duties."

Ties between Cambodia and Thailand have been difficult since June 2008 amid an ongoing border conflict over land surrounding an 11th century temple that has claimed several lives.

Thailand said that the appointment was an internal matter for Hun Sen's government, but it would push for the extradition of billionaire Thaksin if he sets foot in Cambodia.

Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia Thursday after the appointment.

"We have recalled the ambassador as the first diplomatic retaliation measure to let the Cambodian government know the dissatisfaction of the Thai people," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters. "Last night's announcement by the Cambodian government harmed the Thai justice system and really affected Thai public sentiment."

Abhisit said aid to Cambodia would also be halted, but checkpoints on the disputed border between the two countries would remain open and "people-to-people relations would not be affected."

Thaksin, who fled Thailand last year before he was sentenced to two years in jail in a corruption case, remains an influential figure on Thailand's turbulent political scene, stirring up mass protests from abroad against the government of Vejjajiva.

The Thai government announced last month that it would strip Thaksin of his royal awards and his official rank from his time in the police force.

AFP