2 foreigners, Thai nabbed for spying

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2 foreigners, Thai nabbed for spying
Published: 10/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News
 
Thai security authorities arrested a Cambodian, a Vietnamese and a Thai man for espionage in a village adjacent to Cambodia in Si Sa Ket province.

Police and paramilitary soldiers in Kantharalak district arrested the three men _ Suchart Muhammad, 32, Ung Kimtai, 43 from Cambodia, and Wiang Tengyang, 37 from Vietnam _ in Ban Phum Srol village at 5pm on Tuesday.

According to Sompoj Khomprang, chief of Kantharalak police, Mr Suchart, was driving a Bangkok-registered pickup with the other two men on board.

Police said the three were driving around paramilitary bases and bunkers that the government had built for villagers and pinpointing the locations.

They had with them different maps used by Thailand and Cambodia to demarcate the common border.

Authorities also seized four mobile phones from the suspects.

The authorities also administered urine tests to the three suspects and found that Mr Suchart and Mr Ung Kimtai allegedly tested positive for methamphetamines. Both confessed to consuming the drug, police said.

The three suspects were charged with espionage. Mr Suchart and Mr Ung Kimtai faced an additional charge of drug abuse.

Pol Col Sompoj said intelligence officers of the army's Suranaree Task Force and Kantharalak police had been aware beforehand that the group had entered Thailand to identify the locations of military bases near the Cambodian border.

The countries clashed over the border spat in February, April and May.

Meanwhile, a platoon of Cambodian soldiers will join a US-led peace-keeping drill in Prachuap Khiri Khan province from June 13 to July 1. They will be among soldiers from 13 countries in the drill, code-named Ayara Guardian 2011.