Paper blames Bangkok for bungling ties

The Straits Times, January 18, 2007


BANGKOK - A THAI daily has blamed the Foreign Ministry for bungling Thailand's diplomatic ties with Singapore over deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra's private visit to the Republic.

In an editorial, The Nation said rows and bitter feelings could be avoided if 'Thai diplomats grow a backbone and communicate clearly'.

It said: 'The Foreign Ministry committed a big blunder when it failed to take seriously deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's private visit to Singapore a few days ago, which he used as a platform to attack the Surayud government.'

It pointed out that Singapore Ambassador to Thailand Peter Chan had given the ministry notice days in advance of Mr Thaksin's trip and reiterated that it was a private visit.

The Nation's editorial also said Mr Chan had mentioned that Singapore Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, the former foreign minister, would host a private lunch for Mr Thaksin.

The daily said top officials at Thailand's Foreign Ministry 'naively took the Singaporean Government at its word, believing that the visit would be low-key and private'.

It said: 'Both Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram and Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Krit Garnjana-Goonchorn utterly failed to impress upon the Singaporean Government that bilateral relations would be greatly damaged if Thaksin's visit was exploited for political purposes.'

The Nation added that comments Mr Thaksin made during interviews with CNN and the Asian Wall Street Journal were deliberate attempts to discredit the Surayud government and its economic policies.

The paper said it had no problem with the airing and publishing of interviews with Mr Thaksin, adding that the ex-premier's criticism of the Surayud government 'was rather tame compared to the Thai media's standard remarks'.

Finally, the newspaper said: 'Diplomatic relations with Singapore should have been managed much better.'

Reports on Thailand's decision to cancel an invitation made to Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo to visit Bangkok were carried by many media outlets.

The Wall Street Journal said the Thai government, in cancelling the visit, had showed its nervousness about the lingering influence of Mr Thaksin.