In December 2007, former Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Juthamas Siriwan was implicated for allegedly accepting bribes from a US couple in violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The US couple went to trial in the States in 2008 and recently were found guilty and sentenced to six-month jail terms. In January 2010 an indictment was issued in Los Angeles against Juthamas and her daughter on conspiracy and eight other counts. If guilty, a maximum 20-year sentence can be imposed. On August 15, The Nation's headline was: "NACC may seek indictment of Juthamas". It was reported that the National Anti-Corruption Commission notified Juthamas in May that she should defend herself, but so far she has not responded and her whereabouts are unknown. They are now thinking of indicting her. No words are needed to describe the efficiency of our anti-corruption agency.
SONGDEJ PRADITSMANONT
BANGKOK
Signatories are bound by the accords signed
Re: "US works to counter China's rise in Asean", Opinion, August 16.
The above article cogently emphasises a significant diplomatic movement in the area covered by Asean. Indeed, Washington's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) of February 1976 changed the rules of engagement and set forth a new path for the US in the region. But it should be further pointed out that the treaty is fully binding on all its parties, Asean and non-Asean countries alike. Consequently, any divergences, disputes and conflicts between the TAC parties have to be settled peacefully in strict conformity with TAC's relevant provisions. The legal language used by the TAC in this respect is clear, specific and instructive. The parties to the TAC are convinced that the settlement of differences or disputes between countries should be regulated by rational, effective and sufficiently flexible procedures, avoiding negative attitudes that might endanger or hinder cooperation. It is in this spirit that the treaty parties committed themselves to have the determination and good faith to prevent disputes from arising. In case disputes on matters directly affecting them should arise, especially disputes likely to disturb regional peace and harmony, they shall refrain from the threat or use of force and shall at all times settle such disputes among themselves through friendly negotiations. It should be noted that the United Nations Charter refers just to negotiations, in general, while TAC remarkably stipulates that they must be "friendly".
As with any multilateral treaty, the TAC has to be applied and interpreted in conformity with the "treaty of treaties", which is the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, of May 1969, whose Article 26, entitled in Latin "Pacta sunt servanda", says: "Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith." Article 27 specifies: "A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty."
During an era of global vulnerabilities and perplexities, the good faith implementation and interpretation of the TAC by all its parties would be a valuable contribution to universal peace, as a supreme value of humankind.
IOAN VOICU
BANGKOK
He must be joking, surely?
US president Barack Obama has claimed that the oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has "gone". Really? If I'm not mistaken, the amount of oil flushed into the sea ran into the millions, if not billions, of gallons. Where did it go, Mr President?
SLICK RICK
BANGKOK