Investigation Team May Inquire Thai Ambassador in Paris About Preah Vihear

Investigation Team May Inquire Thai Ambassador in Paris About Preah Vihear

3 June 2009
Thai ASEAN News Network

The National Anti-Corruption Commission, or NACC, is likely to question the Thai Ambassador to France over the Preah Vihear Temple controversy.

NACC member Somluck Jatkrabuanphol revealed the latest development in the ongoing investigation on the charge against the cabinet of former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej for wrongfully making a decision that favoured Cambodia registering Preah Vihear Temple as a world heritage site.

The investigation team will decide if the decision of Samak's cabinet violated article 190 of the Thai constitution. Somluck, who is in charge of the investigation, said the only remaining task for the probe team is to grill Thana Duangrat, the Thai ambassador to Paris, whom former Foreign Affairs Minister Noppadol Pattama claimed acknowledged the process of a joint communique between Thailand and France that led to handing the ancient site over to Cambodia.

Noppadol also claimed Thana was present at the signing of the joint communique. Thana was expected to give his response before the commission on May 29th, but he had a prior engagement and postponed the date.

Somluck revealed that she and her investigative team may travel to Paris in the middle of the month to interview Thana there, in order to speed up the ruling over the charge. They cannot wait until Thana will return to Thailand in July to take a new post in Malaysia.

Somluck added that if the NACC indicts 28 members of the Samak cabinet over this charge, the matter will be forwarded to the Constitution Court, which will rule whether three current cabinet members involved in the charge will have to step down from their posts.

She said there are two opinions within the NACC over this matter. One side says the current cabinet members will not have to resign if indicted, and the other side says the opposite.