FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Cambodia denies claims former Thai PM Yingluck issued a passport

Cambodia denies claims former Thai PM Yingluck issued a passport

Cambodian officials on Thursday denied claims that a Cambodian passport was issued to former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who reportedly used it to register a company in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong-based English language South China Morning Post on Wednesday reported that Yingluck used a Cambodian passport to register as the director of PT Corporation Co in August 24, 2018, almost a year after she fled prosecution in Thailand.

Media reports say that four months later Yingluck became the chairwoman of Shantou International Container Terminal (SICT), a port operator based in China’s Guangdong province.

The Post's enquiries to SICT went unanswered.
General Mao Chandara, the director general of the identification department at Ministry of Interior at the time, told The Post on Thursday that Cambodia has never issued a passport to Yingluck.

“We don’t know whether it is fake or not, but we never issue passports to foreigners,” he said, explaining that doing so is against Cambodian law. He said a passport can only be issued to foreigners who have been naturalised via a Royal Decree signed by King Norodom Sihamoni.

“Who in the world doesn’t know that Yingluck is a Thai national and the former Prime Minister of Thailand? How could she use a Cambodian passport to register for a company as a Cambodian citizen? We don’t know what is happening in this story,” he said.

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