The biggest loser

Bangkok Post All eyes will now be on the Thai "spy" Sivarak Chutipong as he is back in his homeland. Politicians will surround him hoping to take credit for his freedom. Some people will look at him and see the perfect victim, the guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time, the biggest loser in this power struggle with no rules of engagement.

If the flight data was public information (as it obviously was) why did its staff have to bother Sivarak in the first place?

I feel sympathy for Sivarak but I do not think he is the "biggest loser". There certainly are many bigger buffoons in this diplomatic brouhaha: Former premier Thaksin, who feels the need to serve as Cambodia's economic adviser just to irk the Abhisit government. PM Abhisit, who overplayed the part a little when he proposed that the Thai-Cambodian Memorandum of Understanding be torn up. PM Hun Sen, who's orchestrated the Thai domestic strife for his own benefit so ostensibly it makes some people wonder if he were a member of the Thai opposition party. And members of the opposition party, who've been scurrying around like hungry rats at the smell of cheese as they try to cash in as much as possible on the suffering of both Sivarak and his mother.

Sivarak has paid the price of fulfilling his duty as a "good citizen" by spending sleepless nights in a Cambodian jail. Now, shouldn't FM Kasit pay for the less than foolproof operation at his ministry, too?

If I have to choose only one person who stands to lose the most from this sorry saga, it would be Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can blame Hun Sen as much as it likes about the seemingly unnecessary conviction, and later pardon, of the Thai man. But it cannot escape its share of responsibility.

It can go on defending itself reasoning that the information it reportedly asked Sivarak to pass on to its staff - Thaksin's flight data - was in the public domain and therefore not classified. It can claim Phnom Penh was being childish and acting up. It can come up with any number of excuses. But it should also know that it does not have total deniability in this matter.

If the flight data was public information (as it obviously was) why did its staff have to bother Sivarak in the first place? It's true that the claim is according to Sivarak's testimony to the Phnom Penh court, but the ministry has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. It has not come out to clearly state what actually happened: did it, or did it not ask Sivarak to supply the information? With the tension between the two countries making headlines every day, there is also this question: Shouldn't our Foreign Ministry know better than to put one of our citizens at risk?

So, PM Hun Sen is as much to blame as the Thai government in cooking up the spy charge; but as head of the organisation whose staff was implicated in the arrest and trial of a fellow Thai man without adequate reason or clear defence, FM Kasit should show his spirit.

It is true that bad things happen and many times these bad things cannot really be attributable to anyone in particular. A staff member of a company gets a bystander hurt in an accident, for example. He or she didn't mean it. He or she didn't know that if the car swerved that way, it would hit the bystander. But if that happens, the company has to take responsibility. Of course, the head of the company - or any head of any organisation - would wish that no accident occurred under his or her watch. But part of being a leader is to be responsible and to shoulder the blame even if it is not exactly one's fault.

Whether Sivarak's trial, conviction and pardon is part of a grand production scripted by former PM Thaksin with the cooperation of PM Hun Sen, has yet to be determined. There is no doubt, however, that the incident has exposed the Thai Foreign Ministry.

Which brings up the serious question of whether Thai citizens can trust that our Foreign Ministry knows what it is doing - when it obviously did not know enough to prevent Sivarak from falling in harm's way. Seriously, would any ordinary citizen willingly cooperate or help the ministry if asked, knowing they run the risk of being caught in a quagmire or written off as collateral damage? Sivarak has paid the price of fulfilling his duty as a "good citizen" by spending sleepless nights in a Cambodian jail. Now, shouldn't FM Kasit pay for the less than foolproof operation at his ministry, too?

I would say it's about time. Indeed, he shouldn't have been given this portfolio in the first place. He should have been left to continue enjoying that caravan of "good food, excellent music".