Phnom Penh said it had received a request from Thailand to have three Thai fugitives facing lese majeste charges extradited.
“Now the competent authorities are processing this request, so it is not the right time to issue detailed information,” Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry was quoted by Phnom Penh Post as saying yesterday.
The Cambodian official declined to say if his country would allow the extradition but highlighted the extradition treaty signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2001. “The two countries have an extradition treaty, and Cambodian authorities are considering the request,” he said.
Legal experts said enforcement of the extradition treaty is complicated as it exempts political crimes and would not be allowed unless the laws of both countries recognise it as a crime.
A Cambodian legal expert said that insulting a king is not a crime under Cambodia’s penal code. “We can’t extradite any accused unless both sides have an act saying it is a crime, according to the Criminal Code,” the expert, Sam Ouen, said. “If it is not a crime in Cambodia, we cannot send those people [to Thailand].”
Cambodia had rejected a previous Thai request, in 2009, for the extradition of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as the accusation against the ex-premier was considered political in nature.
The Thai government has launched a campaign to track down lese majeste fugitives. It recently sent formal requests to seven countries, seeking the extradition of 19 fugitives. Violators face a jail term of up to 15 years.
The government has recently been concerned about increased defamation of the monarchy since the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13. There have been more than 20 cases of alleged lese majeste since then. Most the fugitives have been living in exile for many years.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongwusan yesterday insisted that the Thai government was in contact with foreign authorities to capture the lese majeste offenders residing overseas.
Thai attempts have been going on despite a lack of agreements with foreign countries on the handing over of such fugitives, Prawit admitted.
This could be due to lack of extradition agreements between Thailand and destination countries such as New Zealand where alleged lese majeste violator, Aekkaphob Luara aka Tang Archiva, has lived since 2014 as a refugee.
The military, police and intelligence have also been constantly active to watch out for any acts deemed as insulting to the monarchy, he added.
Meanwhile, executives of the company that operates the Line chat application have agreed to cooperate with the government over messages deemed insulting to the monarchy, Deputy PM Prajin Juntong said yesterday. Prajin said he had discussions with executives of Line Thailand about measures to deal with Line users posting messages deemed insulting to the monarchy and threatening to national security.
Line also promised to set up a special working group that would include its executives in Japan to consider any special requests from the government, according to Prajin.
He said Thai authorities would also discuss with representatives from the popular social media service Facebook.

The amendment of the preamble, however, would be postponed until after the royal title proclamation.
Wissanu said that though the Constitutional Court had decided that an amendment was viable, the government could not possibly fill out the ellipsis because the exact time of the endorsement, as well as the official royal name of King Rama X, were still unknown.
His clarification came in response to the confusion over whether the preamble of the constitution should be amended following the recent passing of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Prior to the death of King Rama IX, the constitution draft’s preamble referred to the late King as the authority to endorse the charter. Therefore, an amendment should be made to replace the reference with the new King’s name.
Wissanu explained that the name choice of the King could differ. When the King Rama VIII accessed the throne, he used the same name Ananda Mahidol to follow the royal title ‘His Majesty the King’. Meanwhile, the King Rama VII took a slight different name from when he was the crown prince.
The deputy PM said that as the government did not know yet the official name of the King Rama X, it must seek the royal endorsement without an amendment or it would not be able to meet the deadline set by the interim charter.
Meanwhile, the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) is ready to abide by the Constitutional Court’s order that it amend the new charter’s preamble in accordance with the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the commission’s chairman said yesterday.
The task could be completed within a day after the CDC receives an official order from the government, Meechai Ruchupan said yesterday.
The chief drafter said the CDC would amend the sections that were inconsistent after the passing of the late King. His Majesty’s name will be replaced with a blank space for the Secretariat of the Cabinet to fill in.
The passages that require amendments include the title of the new King and the title of the authority that will sign the endorsement, he said.
“This approach to amending the charter corresponds with the Constitutional Court’s decision and every legal amendment follows that,” Meechai said.
“It can be seen that ellipses are used in several spots such as the royal emblem, date and year. These can be left to be filled out later, because the CDC cannot wait for the settlement as we are subject to a timeframe set by the interim charter,” he said.
The development came after the Constitutional Court voted unanimously on Wednesday that the charter’s preamble could be amended following the King’s passing.
The court also specified that the CDC should write the amendment, because the commission had written the charter.
In the meantime, the CDC is working on four organic laws necessary for the next general election next year.
Chartchai Na Chiangmai, chairman of CDC’s committee on public relations and opinion polls, said that the National Office of Statistics would, from next Tuesday to Sunday, survey public opinion of those laws.
The questions to be asked in the survey include those about the mechanism to make political parties truly belong to the people, matters concerning the Senate, and the roles of the Election Commission, he said.
The statistics office would submit the poll results to the CDC before November 15 to support the writing of the organic laws, Chartchai said.
The CDC had also sent invitation letters to political parties to attend a seminar where the CDC will gather their opinion for writing the laws, he added.

Thanks to the King, we have a variety of alternative fuels – a blend of fossil fuel and sugarcane-derived ethanol – available these days.
Keokhwan Vajarodaya, former secretary general of the Bureau of the Royal Household, once noted that the King’s initiative on biomass fuel development began more than 50 years ago. Keokhwan, who played a role in that initiative, passed away in September.
He wrote that in 1961 the King predicted a surge in the oil price as car ownership grew.
Keokhwan was instructed to experiment to create fuels that made of petrol or diesel blended with ethanol – which eventually became known as gasohol and biodiesel.
Then came research on biomass fuel as part of a project conceived in 1985 at Chitralada Royal Villa.
Started with seed funding of Bt925,500 from the King’s own pocket, the research  involved cultivation of different sugarcane varieties to find the best ethanol producers.
A small alcohol distillery was opened in the compound of the villa in 1986, producing 2.8 litres of 91-per-cent-proof ethanol per hour.
The purity was eventually refined at 95 per cent, to create ethanol, but it still contained too much water to make gasohol.
Success finally came in 1994 when the researchers managed to reach 99.5 per cent proof, enabling the blending of nine parts 91-octane gasoline to one part ethanol. The resulting gasohol was used to fuel all the cars at the villa thereafter.
Gasohol was first sold at PTT and Bangchak petrol stations in 2001 before being used ubiquitously today.
Though fossil-fuel prices were falling at the time gasohol was set to go commercial, the King took a long-term view and refused to give up on the initiative.
Oil is among the commodities most bound up with politics, since no government can afford to leave its citizens at the mercy of world markets and their oil price surges.
In 2007, then-Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand was reluctant to proceed with a planned ban on octane-95 gasoline.
A key reason was that methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive, was Bt4 per litre cheaper than ethanol. This caused concern there would be insufficient ethanol to replace MTBE.
The policy to ban MTBE came after international safety watchdogs discovered it was hazardous to health.
The Thai government wanted to postpone the ban, saying that an end to sales would save only Bt3 billion a year, which was not worth it when weighed against the suffering caused to motorists.
In the King’s initiative, the point is that the financial impact should be considered in terms of the whole country, not just the consumers. If we can save Bt3 billion a year, that means we should save around Bt30 billion for the over 10 years.
Every satang that motorists pay for fuel will eventually find its way back to local growers of ethanol-producing plants like sugarcane, maize and cassava.
What does it matter that gross domestic product is high, if more than a half of the population is still poor?
Thailand is progressing well on the use of alternative energy, which now meets 12 per cent of total demand. But we cannot afford to let this momentum slip if we want to free ourselves from reliance on imported energy.

The prime minister completed the lyrics two months ago and passed it on to the Royal Thai Army’s Band Department for musical composition and production, according to government Spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
The spokesman refused to explain what message Prayut was trying to convey with the latest song, which was released on Wednesday,
“Hope and Faith” is the third piece composed by the junta head since the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) staged its coup in May 2014. The lyrics contain a message encouraging Thai people to live in harmony and have faith in order to achieve their goals.
The song is available on the official YouTube channel of the Government Public Relations Department.
“Returning Happiness to Thailand” was Prayut’s first single and was released shortly after the coup.
Its release followed months of political turmoil that partially paralysed the capital, and the song sent a message that the coup would restore peace and order, and in the process “return happiness” to the people.
The second single, “Because You Are Thailand”, came in 2015 – a year after the power seizure. By that time the NCPO was constantly being criticised both at home and abroad regarding the depressed economy and human rights violations. The lyrics expressed the regime’s exhaustion while insisting on the generals’ good intentions and calling for the people to cooperate for the good of the country.
“Because You Are Thailand” is believed to have replaced “Returning Happiness to Thailand” as the junta’s theme song, as the initial single has been mocked widely because of the lyric “We will keep our promise; just give us some time”.
Critics have repeatedly joked that the junta has been in power far longer than it originally promised in 2014.

The five organisations are Amnesty International, International Federation for Human Rights, Fortify Rights, International Commission of Jurists and Lawyers Rights Watch Canada.
The official statement can be found on https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ASA3950402016ENGLISH.pdf
Piyanuch Kotan, director of Amnesty International (Thailand), said the organisations were concerned that the amendment could limit the already deteriorating freedom of speech in the country.
The watchdog spelled out that the proposed amendment of Article 14 gives an overly broad definition of the term “false information” that when posted online can breach the law. The definition is subject to different interpretations by authorities and will ultimately affect people’s right to expression.
She went on to say that the punishment was not just limited to computer users only, but also to Internet providers. This could prompt providers to launch self-censorship measures, Piyanuch said.
Apart from violating freedom of expression, Piyanuch pointed out that the law, if successfully amended, could also pose a threat to the privacy of computer users.
She explained that this law would authorise the state to easily access personal information or data of anybody they suspect of committing a computer crime. Together with the overly broad interpretation, the authorities could almost arbitrarily intrude on people’s privacy, she pointed out.
Piyanuch also said that these actions were inconsistent with Thailand’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the country is a state party.
Hence, she said, human-rights organisations have no option but to call on the NLA to reconsider the amendment and comply with international human rights principles.

“I don’t know why people want to insult the monarchy. How can a human being think about that and do such a thing during this time of grieving? If they don’t want to live in Thailand, they should go abroad,” he told reporters. “For the sake of the nation’s [security], I am willing to go into debt, owing money to pay for air tickets for those people.”
The government has launched a campaign to hunt for lese majeste fugitives as well as to take steps to prevent people overseas from engaging in what it regards as insulting the monarchy.
Talking about the monarchy has been especially provocative since wide political divisions opened more than a decade ago, with royalists saying they believed their opponents wanted to discredit the monarchy and some members of the Royal Family for political gain.
Authorities have prosecuted many people on lese majeste charges while others have escaped prosecution by leaving the country.
The government has expressed concern that discussions about the monarchy following the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadejon on October 13 could get out of hand.
Many people overseas have posted criticism of and speculation about the institution of the monarchy on the Internet and via social media.
Police have charged more than 20 people for insulting the monarchy since the passing of the King, alleging improper or defamatory posts on social media. Many people’s social media feeds are under close surveillance.
Chakthip said police had notified Interpol to take legal action against people who insulted the monarchy from overseas, but he declined to give further details.
On behalf of the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry has sent formal requests to seven countries requesting the extradition of 19 fugitives accused of lese majeste charges.
Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya said yesterday that seven or eight countries had informed him that they were willing to cooperate to control the movement of lese majeste fugitives within their jurisdiction although extradition would be difficult due to legal complications.
“I received positive signs from foreign embassies that they understand our situation and the root cause of the problems as well as the feelings of Thai people,” he said. “If we obtain good cooperation from them, I believe the problems will be eased.
“It would be difficult to bring all individuals to go through attitude adjustment programmes,” he said.
The minister added that only 10 people were actively spreading defamatory messages about the monarchy but the content spread quickly on social media.
“If the public does not pay attention, such messages will be phased out,” he said.

The NACC has accused Yongyuth of unlawfully rescinding a Land Department order that prohibited the transfer of 732 rai (117 hectares) of land from Wat Thammathikaram to the Alpine Golf Course. The action enabled the late politician Snoh Thienthong to buy the land from the temple in an allegedly illegal transaction.
Yongyuth was subsequently charged with abusing his authority as acting permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry in 2001 to facilitate the land sale.
The commission voted six to three in June 2002 to pursue charges against Yongyuth, who has declared his innocence, in the Criminal Court.
The court will consider evidence and hear witnesses on behalf of both the public prosecutor and Yongyuth’s defence on December 13.
Yongyuth was released on bail of Bt200,000 but prohibited from leaving the Kingdom without court permission.

However, in making its announcement yesterday, the court specified that the amendment must be made by the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC).
The court announcement follows the government’s request for clarification regarding authority on the amendment.
It was unclear whether the amendment should be carried out by the CDC, which was responsible for writing the charter, or the government, which received the draft from the CDC on October 11.
The present version of the preamble refers to the late King’s reign, prompting legal experts with the CDC and the government to conclude the preamble should be changed following his passing.

Public life goes on, but no longer under the benevolent and fatherly gaze most of us have felt all our lives.
Feelings of grief are mixed with confusion. From the highest state official down to the humblest citizen, our social tree has been shaken to its roots. There is fear, too. Some are afraid that the central pillar of the nation is in danger during this sensitive period. In reality, though, it is nothing but their own panicky thoughts that threaten our most revered institution.
Some of us seem to be progressing from shock and denial to the next stage of grief – anger. While many don’t want to accept it, the truth is there are people who actually like to mock the outward display of mourners. Their ridicule does nothing but add fuel to the fire.
It is important to acknowledge how deep the feelings of grief are for some, and sympathise with their loss.
You might not share that depth of feeling, but that doesn’t give you the right to run down those who do. The right to grieve and to sympathy for our loss should be a given. Anyone who instead receives insults will understandably be furious.
Hence, insulting mourners is not only socially unacceptable, since it deepens the social divide, but it is also violates basic humanitarian principles.
On the other hand, those deep in mourning should recognise that not everyone feels or expresses their grief in the same way. Above all, life goes on despite the tragedy.
Staying positive is the best way to express our love for His Majesty. Anger, witch-hunts and pressuring others won’t change anything. Neither will it change the hearts of the dissenters. And limiting their free expression would also be immature and violate their basic rights.
One thing both sides of the ideological spectrum should agree on at this time is the need to show sensitivity and restraint towards each other.
Interestingly, the last two weeks have seen Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha display commendable leadership qualities.
Responding to the collective state of shock, Prayut has swapped harsh directives for words of comfort while at the same time underlining that the “show must go on” in difficult economic times.
The PM has even called for an end to witch-hunts on one side and mockery on the other, encouraging solidarity and harmony instead.
Most importantly, the PM has displayed a reassuring sense of calm.
Leadership has a big role to play in forging the harmony and solidarity that are necessary to guide Thailand out of this impasse.
So far, Prayut has met this challenge. Hopefully, he can maintain his course. After all, he is the one standing at the helm and responsible for steering the country back to normality and the final stage of the grieving process – acceptance.

Udom said the new political party law would require at least 15 initiating people to notify the EC before finding at least another 500 members inclusively from all regions and finally officially registering the party with the EC. The processes would make it easier for a new party to be formed.
The CDC also stipulated that a new party should have starting capital of at least Bt1 million raised from its founding members, with each contributing around Bt2,000 to support party activities, Udom said.
Such a system, the drafters believed, would foster more active participation among party members.
The spokesman said he did not believe the stricter member registration would affect the big parties which mostly should already have an effective membership management system in place.
But he said the new procedure could pose some problems for smaller parties as it meticulously requires registering members to submit documents such as agreement papers and proof of identification.
Once the new law was in place, the EC would also have to check up on party members to prevent repetition of party membership. Udom quoted EC representatives as saying they did not have a problem resolving the task as they had come up with legal instruments to deal with it.
Udom said that the CDC was currently trying to speed up its work and would invite related agencies for discussions before forwarding the complete law to the National Legislative Assembly and the EC for further deliberation.
The CDC expected to reach that goal by next month or December – the time it anticipated the new constitution could pass all procedures, including Royal endorsement, and come into effect.
Another spokesman, Norachit Sinhaseni, said that the CDC had finished at least 20 articles of the law. The CDC has to write 10 organic laws to support their constitution draft passed by a national referendum in August.
Four of these – political parties, Senate, members of the House of Representatives, and the EC’s powers and responsibilities acts – are priorities as they are necessary to organise a general election next year as promised in the junta’s road map. They are expected to be completed early next year.
The rest would be written and completed later next year before an election.