Pubdate: Fri, 07 Mar 2003
Source: China Post, The (Taiwan)
Copyright: 2003 The China Post.
Contact:  http://www.chinapost.com.tw
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2840

CAMBODIAN BORDER CLOSED DUE TO THAI DRUG WAR

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, AP - Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday, that he 
ordered the border with Thailand closed because he feared Thai authorities 
would accuse visiting Cambodians of being drug traffickers and shoot them.

More than 1,000 suspected drug traffickers have been killed in a tough 
anti-drug campaign launched by the Thai government on Feb. 1. Police say 
they have shot a small number of the suspects in self defense, but that 
most were gunned down by drug gangs trying to silence possible informants.

"I am concerned about the security of Khmer citizens who enter Thailand to 
work or trade," Hun Sen said. "Maybe hundreds of them could be killed, 
because the operation to suppress drug traffickers is leading to many 
shootings."

Cambodia sealed its border with Thailand on Wednesday, asserting that 
progress "to normalize relations in border areas" has been sluggish since 
anti-Thai riots in the Cambodian capital in January.

On Jan. 29, Cambodian rioters torched the Thai Embassy and dozens of 
Thai-owned businesses. The violence allegedly followed Cambodian media 
reports that wrongly quoted a Thai actress as saying the famous Angkor 
temples, Cambodia's national symbol, should belong to Thailand.

In response, Thailand closed its border, downgraded diplomatic relations, 
evacuated its citizens and asked for US$50 million in compensation. It also 
asked for an explanation of why Cambodian forces failed to halt the violence.

Thailand later reopened its border for trade only, but prohibited Thais 
from traveling to Cambodia.

Hun Sen said Thursday that Thailand was "looking down on" Cambodians by 
forbidding Thais -- who provide crucial income to Cambodian businesses near 
the border -- to cross into Cambodia.

"Whatever Thailand has told us to do, we have done it. We have bowed our 
heads to the ground. We accept it, but still no results," he said in a 
national radio broadcast. "This is unacceptable."

Earlier Thursday, Thai Defense Minister Gen. Thammarak Isarangura na 
Ayudhaya said Cambodians and their businesses -- particularly casinos -- 
had suffered since Thailand closed its border, and that the Cambodian 
border closure was an act of retaliation.

Before the border closings, thousands of Thais entered Cambodia daily at 
checkpoints along the border to gamble at dozens of casinos. Gambling is 
illegal in Thailand.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom