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Conflict with Cambodia not to be raised to ASEAN level

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-16 17:58

BANGKOK: Thailand does not want to raise its diplomatic standoff with Cambodia to an ASEAN level, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Monday.

Thailand and Cambodia have downgraded their diplomatic relations due to conflict over an appointment of ousted former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic advisor to Cambodia 's government and Prime Minister Hun Sen on November 4.  

The conflict is an internal affair between the two countries, hence, it won't be raised to the ASEAN level for the ASEAN group to mediate this, Suthep said, Thai News Agency reported.  

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Thailand's government is ready to negotiate with Cambodia, however, Cambodia has not made any political gesture though Thaksin already left Cambodia, said Suthep, who is in charge of security affairs.

Thaksin left Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh on his private jet on Saturday after spending several days in the country.

Meanwhile, Suthep thanked Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his offer to be a mediator to resolve the Thai- Cambodian problem.    

A day after the appointment of Thaksin, the Cambodian government announced recall of its ambassador to Thailand in a move to respond to the Thai government's recall of its ambassador to Cambodia.  

On November 12 the Cambodian Foreign Ministry ordered Mr. Kamrob Palawatwichai, the first secretary of the Thai Embassy in Cambodia, to leave Cambodia within 48 hours.

After learning the Cambodian order, Bangkok responded by expelling a first secretary at the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok ordering him to leave Thailand within 48 hours.  

Thaksin was ousted by the military coup in September 2006, in accusation of corruption, and has been kept in exile since then.  

He returned to Thailand in February 2008 to face corruption charges, but he later fled into exile again and was convicted in absentia.