A Thai criminal court handed down a ruling in late November authorizing Thai officials to extradite Cambodian Sok Yuen, the alleged master-mind of the failed attempt to assassinate Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in 1998.
Cambodia requested Yuen's extradition, but as the two neighbors have no formal extradition treaty, a Thai court ordered the extradition by first ruling that the charges are criminal, and not political.
Cambodia sent a request through the Foreign Ministry seeking Yuen's extradition over his involvement in the September 1998 assassination attempt.
The ruling against Mr. Sok Yuen is significant because of its similarity to another case against 17 Lao suspects who were involved in the armed raid at Van Tao-Chongmek check point in southern Laos.
The 17 Laotians were arrested at the check point, near the border of Northeast Thailand, when they fled Laos to Thailand.