Discussion held on securing Veera's release: Thai-Khmer relations

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THAI-KHMER RELATIONS
Discussion held on securing Veera's release
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday held a discussion on how it can help push for the release of political activist Veera Somkwamkid, who was given an eight-year prison sentence by a Cambodian court over espionage charges.

He was among seven Thai nationals arrested in December 2010 for illegally crossing a disputed Thai-Cambodian border area.

Veera is the leader of the Thailand Patriot Network, a splinter group of the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement. Five members of the group were released in January 2011, but an additional, more serious charge of espionage was slapped on Veera and his assistant Ratree Pipatanapaiboon.

Veera was sentenced to eight years in prison, while Ratree was given six, but was granted a royal pardon in early 2013 after spending two years and a month in Cambodia's Prey Sar prison.

After that, Veera's wife Pitampai filed a petition with the Ombudsman asking help with the release of her husband, who cannot appeal the sentence.

The meeting, led by Ombudsman spokesman Raksakecha Chaechai, included representatives from other organisations such as the National Human Rights Commission, the Office of Human Rights Protection, and the Corrections Department.

Raksakecha said moves to get Veera released from Cambodia and detained in Thailand had failed because espionage is considered a threat to national security.

There are two legal paths that can be taken to help Veera, he said. One is to request that his sentence be commuted by nine to 12 months as part of Cambodia's religious festival at around the time of Loy Krathong. The other channel would be to seek a royal pardon, in which case Veera has to serve two-thirds or five years of his sentence.

Raksakecha said it was really up to the Thai Foreign Ministry to decide whether it should seek help from the National Council for Peace and Order to negotiate Veera's release with the Cambodian government.

-- The Nation 2014-06-18

[Thai at Heart]

Ah yes. I guess by now he is very well aware of where the cambodian border lies.

What an arrogant idiot. Maybe Cambodia wi free him in return for papers and stamps for 1mn labourers.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Thai at Heart

[gilliam]

an additional, more serious charge of espionage was slapped on Veera and his assistant Ratree Pipatanapaiboon

Addressing the utter absurdity of the charge and ridiculousness of the punishment meted out is long overdue.

[apetley]

Ah yes. I guess by now he is very well aware of where the cambodian border lies.

What an arrogant idiot. Maybe Cambodia wi free him in return for papers and stamps for 1mn labourers.

My wife told me that they made a video of themselves as they walked into Cambodia and said that they knew they were on Cambodian soil.

[Thai at Heart]

Ah yes. I guess by now he is very well aware of where the cambodian border lies.

What an arrogant idiot. Maybe Cambodia wi free him in return for papers and stamps for 1mn labourers.

My wife told me that they made a video of themselves as they walked into Cambodia and said that they knew they were on Cambodian soil.

I saw it. He absolutely deservedly got slammed with his charges. I photographed a bridge I China. Camera confiscated.

He marched into Cambodia like an adventure tourist with channel 3 or 5 in tow.

Nationalist idiot.

[NongKhaiKid]

Ah yes. I guess by now he is very well aware of where the cambodian border lies.

What an arrogant idiot. Maybe Cambodia wi free him in return for papers and stamps for 1mn labourers.

My wife told me that they made a video of themselves as they walked into Cambodia and said that they knew they were on Cambodian soil.

Yes, plenty of publicity about this and it backfired big time.

[rkidlad]

I hope he does every last second of his sentence.

You went into someone else's country and broke the law. He was not even a guest in Cambodia.

[klauskunkel]

Discussion held on securing Veera's release

Nothing to discuss, really

[scorecard]

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I hope he does every last second of his sentence.

You went into someone else's country and broke the law. He was not even a guest in Cambodia.

Perhaps your 'rules' could / should be applied to a few others.

[thumper101]

Ah yes. I guess by now he is very well aware of where the cambodian border lies.

What an arrogant idiot. Maybe Cambodia wi free him in return for papers and stamps for 1mn labourers.

My wife told me that they made a video of themselves as they walked into Cambodia and said that they knew they were on Cambodian soil.

I saw it. He absolutely deservedly got slammed with his charges. I photographed a bridge I China. Camera confiscated.

He marched into Cambodia like an adventure tourist with channel 3 or 5 in tow.

Nationalist idiot.

What about all the illegal Cambodians that cross Thailand's borders without even a passport?... So if Thailand threw them all in the poley, you would of course condone that.

Or do we see double standards?

How many claim to be workers while they are actually spies, or there to create havoc on behalf of Thaksin?

I suppose that is alright then?

[h90]

Ah yes. I guess by now he is very well aware of where the cambodian border lies.

What an arrogant idiot. Maybe Cambodia wi free him in return for papers and stamps for 1mn labourers.

My wife told me that they made a video of themselves as they walked into Cambodia and said that they knew they were on Cambodian soil.

I saw it. He absolutely deservedly got slammed with his charges. I photographed a bridge I China. Camera confiscated.

He marched into Cambodia like an adventure tourist with channel 3 or 5 in tow.

Nationalist idiot.

He was charged for espionage. He deserved that, why?

Illegal crossing the boarder. And maybe some other things like disregarding the authorities. But espionage, he might be an idio t but not a spy.

[Thai at Heart]

Ah yes. I guess by now he is very well aware of where the cambodian border lies.

What an arrogant idiot. Maybe Cambodia wi free him in return for papers and stamps for 1mn labourers.

My wife told me that they made a video of themselves as they walked into Cambodia and said that they knew they were on Cambodian soil.

I saw it. He absolutely deservedly got slammed with his charges. I photographed a bridge I China. Camera confiscated.

He marched into Cambodia like an adventure tourist with channel 3 or 5 in tow.

Nationalist idiot.

What about all the illegal Cambodians that cross Thailand's borders without even a passport?... So if Thailand threw them all in the poley, you would of course condone that.

Or do we see double standards?

How many claim to be workers while they are actually spies, or there to create havoc on behalf of Thaksin?

I suppose that is alright then?

He stuck his nose into the Phraer Viharn issue, and was thumbing his nose with Thai TV in tow.

And from what I hear plenty of illegal trespassers from Cambodia get shot by the border police/army.

So, I suppose Veera could consider himself quite lucky.