SRP lawmakers have requested that Prime Minister Hun Sen brief the National Assembly on rumors that Thaksin Shinawatra, the fugitive ex-premier of Thailand, is hiding in Cambodia.
SRP lawmaker Mao Monyvann said Sunday by telephone that he and five other SRP lawmakers, including party President Sam Rainsy, sent the request Wednesday in a letter to Hun Sen. The letter must first go through National Assembly President Heng Samrin.
Koam Kosal, director of Heng Samrin’s cabinet, could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Thaksin fled Thailand in August 2008 when an anti-corruption court sentenced him to two years in prison for violating conflict of interest rules in the purchase of land. He is barred from Thai politics and from entering the UK and Japan.
“Some countries in the world, they do not allow Thaksin to go into their countries. We want Hun Sen to answer why Cambodia has allowed [Thaksin to enter],” Mao Monyvann said.
According to a copy of the letter, which was posted on the SRP website, reports have surfaced of Thaksin living in Cambodia and plotting his return to the Thai political scene.
“During the period from January 2009 up to now, was Thaksin in Cambodia or not? If he was in Cambodia, how did he enter Cambodia, when and where?” the letter asks.
Thai newspaper The Nation reported Feb 5 that Thai parliamentarians were possibly planning to meet Thaksin in Koh Kong province this month to plan the ex-premier’s return to Bangkok.
Major General Keo Vannthan, director of Cambodia’s Interpol department, said Sunday that he had no information that Thaksin is or was recently in Cambodia.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said by telephone Sunday that Thaksin has not visited Cambodia in the period since January.
“This is a political issue made by Sam Rainsy, and it is not accurate information,” he said.
