Thailand to shun ceremony in Oslo

Thailand to shun ceremony in Oslo

BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand will not send representatives to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to two East Timorese, reports said yesterday.

The Thai ambassador to Norway, where the Peace Prize was handed yesterday, told the Bangkok Post that he had turned down an invitation to attend the ceremony.

Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, bishop of the East Timor capital Dili, and Jose Ramos Horta, spokesman in exile of the East Timorese resistance, jointly received the prize.

However, ambassador Suphasin Jayanama would only say he was not attending the ceremony in Oslo for reasons "related to official business." Thailand and Indonesia are members of ASEAN, whose members staunchly support the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.