Court wants B846m to release royal jet

• Online news: Local News

MUNICH: A German court has ordered the release of the Crown Prince's impounded jet upon receipt of a hefty bank guarantee, ending an awkward episode that threatened to upset ties.

HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn's Boeing 737 was seized at Munich airport in southern Germany last Tuesday in a long-running commercial dispute between Thailand and a now-insolvent German construction firm.

But a court in nearby Landshut said it had received an assurance under oath from the Thai Department of Civil Aviation's director that the plane belonged to the Crown Prince, not the Thai state, as well as a 2007 registration certificate.

The vice-presidentof the court, Christoph Fellner, said however that since these documents provided only a "presumption of ownership", 20 million euros (846 million baht) had to be deposited via a bank guarantee.

"No guarantee means no take-off," he said. "If everything goes well for the prince and we establish that the aircraft really belongs to him, then he will get his bank guarantee back." The guarantee was set at that level because that was estimated to be the value of the plane, the court said.

The seizure of the aircraft prompted a visit by caretaker Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya last Friday to Berlin. He called the incident a "huge mistake" and met a German Foreign Ministry official to press for the plane's release.

"If this takes too long it might affect the feelings of the Thai people towards German people and the country because this is related to the monarchy," Mr Kasit had warned, saying the dispute had "nothing to do" with the royal family.

The German government had said it regretted the incident but stressed that it was powerless to act, insisting it was a matter for the courts.

The dispute goes back more than 20 years to the involvement of DYWIDAG, which merged with construction firm Walter Bau in 2001, in building a motorway link between Bangkok and Don Mueang airport.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jesda Katavetin and permanent secretary for transport Supoj Saplom Wednesday said Thai authorities were studying the German court's ruling.