Thais Flee Phnom Penh After Night of Riots
Wed January 29, 2003 10:50 PM ET
By Ed Cropley
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Thai military aircraft evacuated hundreds of frightened Thais from the Cambodian capital on Thursday after a night of anti-Thai riots in which their embassy and businesses were torched.
The sudden and unexpected violence sparked a diplomatic storm, with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra recalling his ambassador and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen, saying relations had dropped to a "level of concern."
Cambodian flags were burned in Bangkok in response to the riots, which were sparked by remarks reportedly made by a Thai actress that the Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia's national symbol and represented on the flag, belonged to Thailand.
The actress has denied making the remarks.
Five giant C-130 transport planes landed in the Thai capital, Bangkok, with some 500 people on board.
"We had one Thai cook and she was picked up by Thai officials at three in the morning and taken straight to the airport," said Bun Sea, a worker at a Thai restaurant in Phnom Penh.
At least two Thai businessmen were stuck in Phnom Penh, unable to get to the airport, witnesses said.
"They are very, very scared and are hiding in their office. They don't know how to get to the airport," said one of their office employees. "They are afraid they will be killed."
Thai authorities said 511 Thais had been evacuated. Another 100 were waiting for an evening flight to Bangkok.
The Thai military said on Thursday one worker at a Thai-owned hotel had been killed in the violence. Cambodian police were unable to confirm the death.
After a day of flag-burning and anti-Thai chanting that played on the inherent distrust most Cambodians feel toward their much bigger neighbor, the crowd massed outside the embassy toward Wednesday nightfall.
About 50 protesters climbed the embassy walls and threw rocks into the compound, smashing windows, before the arson attack.
Angry crowds prowled the capital well into the night, setting fire to cars and attacking Thai-owned and other foreign businesses, including Cambodia Shinawatra, the Cambodian branch of a telecoms company set up by Thaksin.
Hun Sen blamed the riots on a small group of extremists.
"This violence is very regrettable and is a tremendous loss for our nation and our people," Hun Sen said in a statement.
"These events that have occurred have been caused by a small group of people who are extremists, who incited people with lies about the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok being destroyed."
He appealed for calm as gangs of youths on motorcycles sped round the streets of Phnom Penh on Thursday morning, honking horns, waving flags and shouting anti-Thai slogans.
"I urge all Cambodian people, please, keep it quiet, calm down the situation and together to keep political stability, safety and social order," Hun Sen said.
"The relationship between Thailand and Cambodia, which has been growing healthily has now dropped to a level of concern," Hun Sen said in a statement.
APOLOGY DEMAND
About 50 protesters distributed anti-Thai leaflets at a street corner in the center on Phnom Penh. They chanted "crush Thailand, crush Thailand."
Looters were picking through the wreckage of cars and piles of burned furniture.
"It's all because Thai people are down on the Cambodian people," said one looter, clutching a bag of medicines, in the charred remains of the Royal Phnom Penh Hotel, believed to be owned by Thais.
"They say we are dogs. If Thai people cannot say sorry, then there will be more riots."
Iwao Tsunashima, a Japanese engineer who has lived in the hotel for two years, said he was devastated.
"I escaped only with my body and my laptop computer. I have lost everything else. I have no idea how this happened."
A French couple looked dazed as they searched the wreckage for their belongings. Any police effort to restrain looters appeared half-hearted at best.
A crowd of 200 Thais gathered outside the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok to chant anti-Phnom Penh slogans and burn Cambodian flags. Riot police outnumbered the protesters, a Reuters correspondent at the scene said.
Ancient Thai kings and their Cambodian rivals based at their capital at Angkor battled for centuries but Thailand emerged the stronger power.
The neighbors have several areas of dispute on their land and sea borders and Cambodians resent what they see as Thai exploitation of their resources.
The Thais last evacuated their nationals from Phnom Penh during a 1997 coup.
Thaksin said diplomatic relations would continue but contacts would be reduced while Thailand took stock of the attacks on its property in its eastern neighbor.
"Diplomatic relations will continue, but I have recalled our ambassador," Thaksin said. "The Foreign Ministry will ask the Cambodian ambassador to receive our protest and ask him to leave, so as to scale down our relations."
He said Cambodia should compensate Thais for the damage to their businesses and arrest those responsible for the violence. (Additional reporting by Dan Eaton in Bangkok)
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