Decision on royal jet may come Wednesday | Bangkok Post: news

MUNICH: The fate of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn's aeroplane, held at Munich airport over a payments row, will be known Wednesday at the earliest.

"I have given both sides the opportunity to deliver an opinion by [Tuesday]," said Christoph Fellner, vice-president of the Landshut district court hearing the case. "Nothing will happen before Wednesday."Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya travelled Monday from The Hague to Munich to support the Thai authorities in their attempt to convince the German court to release the Boeing 737-400, which has been impounded since July 12.Mr Kasit was in The Hague to hear the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the withdrawal of Thai troops from the area surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.Prior to the ICJ verdict, Mr Kasit was in Germany working to secure the plane's release.Werner Schneider, insolvency administrator for German building firm Walter Bau AG, sought the court's order to have the plane seized and banned from flying in order to force a US$42 million (1.26 billion baht) payment from Thailand's government.The debt goes back more than 20 years to when Walter Bau was part of a joint venture to construct a 26-kilometre toll road to Don Mueang airport, which was then Thailand's main international airport.A row followed over the tolls to be levied, leading the German construction company to claim contractual obligations were not being met.After years of negotiations, an international tribunal in Geneva awarded Walter Bau $42 million in...