PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Nov 9 (NNN-AKP) – It appears Nov 9 (today), will come and go, without Cambodia‘s opposition, making its promised return, after leader, Sam Rainsy, failed to board a flight from Paris to Thailand, on Thursday.
Rainsy, acting president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), said, he had a ticket to Bangkok arriving on Nov 8, and from there would enter Cambodia by land the following day.
Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-ocha, however, ordered that Rainsy not be permitted to enter the country.
“They say they have received very high-up instruction not to allow me to board,” Rainsy told reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport, claiming he was barred from boarding his Thai Airways flight.
An airline employee said that Rainsy did not have a valid ticket.
Earlier this week, Rainsy posted a photo on social media of his ticket, along with his booking reference.
The booking appeared to show that Rainsy had reserved a flight leaving Paris Nov 9, not Nov 7.
Ear Sophal, a Cambodian-American associate professor at Occidental College, said, a third party could have changed Rainsy’s ticket, after he tweeted it, or the airline may have considered his ticket invalid, because he was barred from the country.
Multiple Cambodian social media users question why Rainsy chose to fly with Thai Airways, after Chan-ocha’s statement.– NNN-AKP