Thai police killed two Cambodian police officers who illegally crossed into Thailand to recoup owed money, officials said Thursday.
The two Cambodian border police were unarmed when Thai military police opened fire at about noon Monday, the officials claimed. “They were not armed. If they did something wrong, why did [Thai police] not stop them and arrest them?” said Sok Sareth, chief of Banteay Meanchey provincial police.
Thai authorities, however, reported that Thai police shot the two men as they attempted to smuggle drugs across the border, according to Cambodian officials and The Associated Press.
The killings could threaten already strained relations between the two countries. However, one Interior Ministry official said he had opened official lines of communication with Thai police to resolve the matter.
“We’re prepared to talk with the Thai police,” said Sok Phal, chief of the ministry’s central department of national security.
Nantinee Niyaso, first secretary at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, declined comment. Another embassy official who deals with border issues could not be contacted by phone.
Cambodian border authorities were already fuming Thursday. Sok Sareth complained that his Thai counterpart had refused to return the slain men’s bodies to Cambodia. “We asked the Thai authorities to give back their corpses, but they said no. It is not in our jurisdiction, so what can we do?” he said.
Police identified the two men as Mao Mai and Pin Samnang. Their ages were unavailable Thursday. Sok Sareth and Thma Puok district police said Thai officers owed the two men $2,250 to $2,500 and speculated the debt was linked to an illegal timber deal.
Thai television broadcast reports that the men were trafficking narcotics, the officials said. It was unclear Thursday whether Thai authorities had made any arrests in the case. “I heard that they had arrested the men who had shot the [Cambodian] police, but we are not sure,” said Sam Chith, a deputy provincial police chief.
