Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai says good relations between Thailand and Bahrain helped extricate Thailand from the controversy surrounding the Bahraini extradition request for footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who has refugee status in Australia.
Mr Don said the Bahraini government values the relationship between the two countries, and did not want the Thai government subjected to pressure and criticism from the international community, and did not want the issue to be prolonged.
Bahraini media reported on Sunday that Mr Don was granted an audience with Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain to discuss the extradition of the Bahraini refugee footballer.
“Bahrain is a good friend of Thailand, and my trip was not because Thailand was pressured by many countries but because Bahrain saw this case as an urgent matter that required an immediate solution,” he said.
In addition to Mr Don's secret flight to Manama, the capital of Bahrain, it also was revealed that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha became directly involved in the secret diplomacy.
While Mr Don was with Prime Minister Khalifa, Gen Prayut phoned the Bahrain leader, and spoke to him directly.
According to the Bahrain media, the Prayut-Khalifa telephone call "reviewed the progress of Bahraini- Thai relations and the mechanisms to enhance cooperation and coordination."
The Bahrain media are carefully monitored by the Manama regime.
Meanwhile, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs has carried no news of the Bahrain visit and Don-Khalifa talks, even after Mr Don admitted the lightning trip on Tuesday.
Araibi arrived in Australia Tuesday (photo below). He was freed from Bangkok Remand Prison on Monday after the Criminal Court approved a request by prosecutors to withdraw its petition to have him extradited to his home country.
Bahrain’s National Communication Centre, however, issued a statement: “The Kingdom of Bahrain recognises the independence and integrity of the judiciary in the Kingdom of Thailand. Nonetheless, it reiterates its sovereign right to pursue legal action against Mr Al Araibi given that a guilty verdict, delivered by a Bahraini court, still stands.”
Gen Prayut explained that after Mr Hakeem was freed from the remand prison, Thailand would no longer be involved with his case.
“From now on, his case would be Bahrain's and Australia’s problem,” he said.
“It’s the right of these two countries to pursue legal action, but Thailand has nothing to do with the case anymore.”
He also asked the public to stop all criticism toward the government now that the case is done.
He added that the government has no authority over the legal proceedings of the Criminal Court and cannot interfere in any way.
