Caught in the crossfire between Cambodia and Thailand

Sivarak Chutipong speaks to media after a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh, Dec. 14, 2009. Sivarak, a Thai engineer working for Cambodian air traffic control who had been found guilty of spying for leaking fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra's flight details to the Thai embassy, was ultimately pardoned after a request to Cambodia's king from Thaksin. (Chor Sokunthea/Reuters)

Convicted of spying earlier this month, Sivarak Chutipong became the latest casualty in the political drama between Cambodia and Thailand.

December 25, 2009
By James O'Toole — Special to GlobalPost

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — It has been an eventful six weeks for Sivarak Chutipong.

When he left for work on Nov. 10, the 31-year-old Thai native was an anonymous expatriate who had lived and worked peacefully as an airport engineer in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh for seven years. In the weeks since, he has met prime ministers, been pardoned by a king, and seen his picture splashed across the front pages of newspapers, caught up in the latest round of feuding between his native country and his adopted home.

Sivarak was convicted of spying in a Cambodian court earlier this month after relaying the flight information of fugitive ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. Thaksin arrived in Cambodia on Nov. 10 for an intensely controversial visit, the fallout from which has attracted international attention and dominated news coverage in Thailand and Cambodia ever since.

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