Recall of envoys escalates Thai-Cambodian tensions

BANGKOK – Thailand and Cambodia recalled their ambassadors from each other's country in a diplomatic spat over Phnom Penh naming fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra a government adviser.

The actions Thursday were a major escalation in tensions between the two countries, which have also had a series of small but sometimes deadly skirmishes over the demarcation of their border.

Thailand recalled its ambassador Thursday afternoon, saying it considered the appointment of Thaksin to be interference in its internal affairs. It also said it would review all of its agreements with Cambodia.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An later said in his country's capital of Phnom Penh that his government was withdrawing its envoy in a reciprocal action. He said when Thailand sends back its ambassador, Cambodia would do likewise.

Sok An said the dispute would not affect relations between the two countries, especially people living on both sides of the border, across which the two nations trade. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva earlier took a similar position, saying the protests were government-to-government actions and offering assurances the frontier would not be closed to commerce.

Thaksin is a hugely divisive figure in Thailand, where his supporters and opponents have repeatedly taken to the streets over the past two years in demonstrations over who has the right to rule the country since Thaksin's ouster in a 2006 military coup. The protests have sometimes turned violent and once shut down the capital's airports for a week.

The ousted prime minister has been living mostly in self-imposed exile since the coup, when he was accused of corruption, abuse of power and insulting Thailand's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was convicted in absentia last year of violating a conflict of interest law and sentenced to two years in prison, and his Thai passport has been revoked, forcing him to travel on other countries' passports.

Thai officials frequently claim he is trying to undermine the current government.

But Thaksin remains widely popular among Thailand's rural people and the urban poor, who benefited from his social welfare policies. He is still highly influential, rallying protesters in telephoned speeches from aboard.

His supporters say the Bangkok-centered elite is ignoring the mandate Thaksin won in two democratic elections because it feels its own privileges are threatened.

Cambodia announced Wednesday that Thaksin would serve as an adviser on economic affairs to both the government and to Hun Sen personally.

In a statement read on state television, it also said Cambodia would refuse to extradite Thaksin to Thailand if asked because Phnom Penh considers him a victim of political persecution, echoing comments its prime minister, Hun Sen, made at an Asian summit last month.

The Thai Foreign Ministry announced the recall of its ambassador in a statement that said Thaksin's appointment could not be separated from relations between the two countries.

It declared that his appointment was seen as "interference in Thailand's domestic affairs and failure to respect Thailand's judicial system."

Cambodia has a sometimes prickly relations with its bigger, richer neighbor, most vividly illustrated in 2003 when the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh was burned down by rioters over a remark by a Thai actress that allegedly called into question the country's sovereignty over a landmark temple.

Nationalistic feelings in both countries were stoked recently when Thailand revived a complaint about land around another border temple once claimed by both countries but awarded to Cambodian in 1962 by the World Court.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, had substantial business interests in Cambodia and was accused of pursuing special deals there for his family-controlled conglomerate while prime minister.

He has traveled since the coup to Dubai, Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Liberia and Montenegro in pursuit of investment opportunities.

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Additional reporting by Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh.