Suthep denies secret talks with P. Penh

Negotiations stalled over marine oil, gas

Democrat MP for Surat Thani Suthep Thaugsuban denies he held secret talks with Cambodian officials about oil and gas interests in the overlapping marine area during the tenure of the Democrat-led government.

Mr Suthep, a former deputy prime minister, conceded yesterday he met Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who oversees energy affairs, in Hong Kong, for informal talks.
But he had never held "secret" talks with Sok An about the maritime issue.
The Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, a government body under the supervision of Sok An, said on Tuesday its government would welcome a resumption of negotiations with Thailand on resolving claims to the 27,000 square kilometre stretch of seabed considered rich in oil and gas.
The authority said discussions held from 2001 to 2007 had been fruitful, adding that the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, which took power in 2008 and had rocky relations with Phnom Penh, had sought to resolve the dispute prior to this year's election.
To that end, it said, Bangkok and Phnom Penh had held secret talks to try to reach a deal.
Mr Suthep said he travelled to Cambodia and met Prime Minister Hun Sen twice _ the first time for prisoner exchange talks and the second time about the opening of a highway.
Hun Sen told him his Cambodian counterpart Sok An would hold further talks with him about various issues.
Mr Suthep said he tried to invite Sok An to visit Thailand for official negotiations but failed and Sok An then asked him to meet in Hong Kong for informal talks first.
They agreed only that they wanted to meet officially, so they could discuss Thai-Cambodian issues that had not been settled under the previous government, including exploitation of marine resources in the Thai-Cambodian disputed area.
However, the relationship between Thailand and Cambodia turned sour before an official meeting between the pair could be held, said Mr Suthep.
"The meeting between Sok An and I was not a secret one. It was an ordinary unofficial talk before an official meeting between government representatives," he said.
He insisted he and the Democrat Party had no vested interests in natural resources in the disputed area.
Both governments needed to negotiate over oil and gas in the disputed area.
It was impossible for anybody to benefit personally because the details of the agreement had to be publicised. The Thai government also had to seek approval for the agreement from parliament, said Mr Suthep.
Democrat leader Abhisit supported Mr Suthep's explanation. He said Mr Suthep met Sok An to talk about the framework for negotiations that needed approval from the Thai parliament.
Eventually, the plan to hold official talks was scrapped after the Thai government decided to shelve the 2001 Thai-Cambodian Memorandum of Understanding.
Mr Abhisit added that if his government had tried to favour the Cambodian government, the Cambodians should be satisfied.
But now, the Cambodian government was trying to discredit his government because his administration never did it any favours.
"And if the Cambodian government is satisfied, the public should keep an eye on it to see which government is about to favour the Cambodian government," he said.