Date: 30 January 2003

In order to respond to anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh, Thai government has barred the Cambodian nationals from entering into the country across the Thai-Cambodian border, and pressured to expel hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

The order from Thailand's Ministry of Defense was applied on all checkpoints along the 800 kilometer closed to Cambodian border.

After the control over the riots, Cambodian military police have arrested about 20 protesters which left one Thai national dead and seven others injured.

Cambodia has expressed official regret for the demonstration and blamed a small group of extremists for escalating the situation.

The governor of Phnom Penh expressed his concern about the negative affect on the city's vital tourism. He stated that the city wanted to receive all the tourists to come to Phnom Penh, but unfortunately that the last two days might be difficult on this issue.

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