An air traffic controller in Cambodia has been jailed for seven years for spying on Thai ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra during an official visit last month.

一位空中交通管制员因上月在柬埔寨的一次官方访问中监视泰国前总理他信·西那瓦而遭七年监禁。

Siwarak has denied leaking details of Thaksin's flights

Siwarak Chothipong, who is Thai, was accused of passing Mr Thaksin's private flight details to Thai diplomats¹.

Mr Thaksin caused a diplomatic uproar喧嚣，骚动 when he was named an economic adviser³ to Cambodia despite being wanted in Thailand to serve time for corruption⁴.

Ties between the neighbours were already tense over a border dispute.

Diplomatic manoeuvres

The judge said Siwarak, 31, had breached⁵ security by leaking the details of Mr Thaksin's private flights while Mr Thaksin was a guest of the government.

But the seven-year sentence was actually the lightest possible for spying. The maximum would have been 15.

Thai officials have indicated they will try to reduce it further - by helping⁶ Siwarak to appeal, or asking for a royal pardon from Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni.

There has also been speculation⁷沉思，推测 in Thailand that Mr Thaksin may intervene插入，干涉 to secure Siwarak's release, the BBC's Guy De Launey reports from Phnom Penh.

Cambodia's relationship with its larger neighbour has deteriorated⁸恶化 since July last year - when it secured World Heritage status for an ancient temple in a disputed border area.

Last month's appointment of Mr Thaksin as a special economic adviser to the government in Phnom Penh made matters worse.

A mutual⁹ withdrawal¹⁰ of ambassadors followed, as Thailand accused Cambodia of political interference.

The Thai tycoon¹¹ was toppled推翻 in a 2006 coup¹² and is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption.