Thailand is refusing to buckle to North Korean pressure to release a luxury Bentley car seized amid fears it was being smuggled for illegal re-sale by diplomats.
North Korean officials have been called in to the Foreign Ministry after it was discovered they had been demanding police and customs officers release the vehicle.
'We have made it clear that they must let the legal process take its course,' a Foreign Ministry official said. 'This car was not registered and did not seem to be for use by the embassy.' Diplomatic conventions allow for countries to import cars tax-free but under strict regulations governing re-sale.
The car was seized on March 9 and investigations are continuing.
'We have been suspicious of their motives for a long time,' another Thai official said. 'There are big profits in smuggling luxury cars and maybe it is too much for them to resist.' The embassy is one of North Korea's biggest in the region and Bangkok provides one of the few direct air routes to Pyongyang.
North Korean diplomats in the region have previously been linked to drug smuggling, counterfeiting of US dollars and terrorism.
