Singapore saddened by Thai government's decision

The Straits Times, January 17, 2007


FOLLOWING former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's visit to Singapore, the Thai military government, which ousted him in a Sept 19 coup, cancelled a regular Thai-Singapore civil service exchange programme and withdrew an invitation for Singapore Foreign Affairs George Yeo to attend an upcoming meeting.

Mr Thaksin was in Singapore for a four-day visit recently and had asked to meet Professor S. Jayakumar, who is an old friend. Mr Thaksin was understood to have left the Republic yesterday.

Responding to media queries on the issue, an MFA spokesman said: 'We regret that the Thai government has decided to suspend the Singapore-Thailand Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP), cancel the CSEP Coordinating Meeting scheduled to take place in Bangkok from 29-31 January 2007 and rescind the invitation to Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo to attend the CSEP meeting.

The Singapore Government notes that the position taken by the Thai government is a response to the recent private visit of Dr Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Singapore Government hopes that Thailand can appreciate Singapore's position on the visit. The Thai government did not notify us that Dr Thaksin has been charged for any offence.

There is also no restriction on where he can travel to. He had chosen to make a visit to Singapore on his own.

Dr Thaksin had asked to meet Deputy Prime Minister Professor S. Jayakumar, who is an old friend. It was purely a social and private meeting.

No official calls or meetings were arranged. Thai nationals do not require visas to visit Singapore. There is no reason for Singapore to turn Dr Thaksin away. Prior to Singapore, Dr Thaksin had also visited several other countries without any protest by the Thai government.

We are therefore saddened that the Thai government has chosen to take this course of action.

We hope Thailand will respect Singapore's position as that of a sovereign country. We value the longstanding friendly relations with Thailand.'