M'sian students on standby in Thailand
Malaysiakini
Sep 20, 2006
Beh Lih Yi and Soon Li Tsin

Malaysian students will be brought back home should the political situation in Thailand worsen, said Higher Education Ministry parliamentary secretary Dr Adham Baba.

Replying Ahmad Zainuddin Omar (BN-Larut) in the Dewan Rakyat this morning, he said the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok had contacted a number of PhD students in Chulalongkorn University and Thammasat University.

Ahmad Zainuddin had asked a supplementary question during the Question session about the status of Malaysian students following the military coup in Thailand last night. 

Foreign Affairs Ministry parliamentary secretary Ahmad Shabery Cheek then told the House that the government will closely monitor the situation.

“It is difficult for us to make a statement today, as to whether we recognise the new government. It is easy to topple a government but what is its legitimacy?” he said in reply to Mahadzir Mohd Khir (BN-Sungai Petani).

He noted that legitimacy lies with the people’s acceptance of the new government and its constitutionality.

“It is not an easy matter for us to decide, so we will wait and watch the developments,” he said.

Ahmad Shabery told reporters at the Parliament lobby that no new travel warning would be issued for the time being, to Malaysians who wish to travel to Thailand.

“We have issued travel warnings before during the southern Thai violence and now we should remind our people to be careful. We can’t say Malaysians shouldn’t go there because there is no violence but things can be very uncertain,” he said.

Progress undone

In a related development, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) said that decades of Thai progress in democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law have been undone by the military coup.

“No tears will be shed for (Thai premier) Thaksin Shinawatra, but there are tears for Thai democracy. Democratic elections, and not coups, are the way to change governments,,” Lim said in a statement today.
He also said the Thai Political Reform Council must give way for immediate restoration of the democratic and constitutional institutions and processes.

This, he noted, is not just for the sake of democratisation in Thailand and the rest of Asean, but also for economic stability and certainty in the Thai kingdom and Southeast Asia.