World Court
The Nation April 22, 2013 1:00 am
Virachai Plasai, Thai Ambassador to The Hague and lead lawyer for the Thai legal team, was given a hero's greeting by well-wishers and said he was ready to provide further evidence relevant to the court case to the ICJ. Deputy premier and Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul also thanked all Thais who showed their support for the Thai team.Surapong told the media the task for the government now was to explain the various possible rulings by ICJ later this year. Virachai will lead the Thai legal team, which includes three foreign nationals, to brief Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today. He thanked all Thai citizens who gave him and the team their moral support in order for them to perform to the best of their ability.
Asked if he was 100-per-cent certain Thailand would win the case, Virachai said he couldn't answer that question.
The team will hold a strategic meeting with state agencies later this week and provide further map-related evidence to the ICJ on Friday.
Some of those at the airport to welcome the team held up placards praising the team, particularly Virachai and Alina Miron, the French-Romanian lawyer hired by the Thai government.
"Alina Miron: You are Our Hero. We Love you" one placard read. The Thai-hired foreign legal team members, who have become popular on social media, were to arrive in Bangkok on a later flight.
In a related development, Noppadon Pattama, legal adviser to ousted and fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, said he was fed up with accusations by the opposition Democrat Party's spokesperson Chavanond Intarakomalyasut that the government was selling out to Cambodia. He urged Chavanond to study the laws more deeply.
"If you have no knowledge, then ask Ambassador Virachai," said Noppadon.
Democrat party-list MP Ong-art Klampaiboon praised the efforts made by the Thai legal team but cautioned the public not to expect a positive outcome. Ong-art said other related officials from the Foreign Ministry also deserved due credit as they had committed themselves to defending the country's interests.
Ong-art urged the Foreign Ministry to provide as much information to the public as possible - but urged politicians to refrain from doing do. This, he said, was due to the fact that there are people who do not trust the government.
Democrat spokesperson Chavanond meanwhile urged the Yingluck administration to fully commit to defending Thailand's territorial integrity.
Chavanond said it was Noppadon, when he was foreign minister, who removed Virachai from the post of director-general of the Department of Foreign Treaties and International Law.
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