Here is an update on the North Korean arms shipment that was detained in Thailand:

Nearly two months after the seizure here of a charter plane carrying 35 tons of weapons shipped from North Korea, the mystery remains as to where the rockets and other armaments were headed.

Iran, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates were reportedly listed on the flight plan; the former Soviet republic of Georgia was cited as the charter company’s operations base; and the captain has said that Kiev, Ukraine, was the destination.

This week, Iran denied that it was the intended recipient, according to wire reports, arguing that it had no need for the weaponry because it has its own arms industry, which makes rockets, tanks, jet fighters, light submarines and missiles.

Predictably, North Korea is not talking.

The crew of the Russian-made aircraft, four citizens of Kazakhstan and one of Belarus, remains in detention on illegal arms possession charges awaiting a decision by Thailand’s attorney general on whether to seek a trial.

Meanwhile, some in the Thai government are getting antsy.

Not only is the case mysterious, it is getting costly, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Wednesday.

“The air force and the airport are telling us they’re going to bill us very soon,” he said.

“We told them, ‘Can you delay the billing?’ ”

Among the government’s costs are those for guarding and storing the weapons, as well as maintaining the impounded Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane.

There’s also the likely multimillion-dollar cost of disabling and disposing of the weapons in keeping with United Nations guidelines, he added.

“It gets quite expensive,” Panitan said.  [LA Times]

If it is so expensive than why not just sell the aircraft to help cover the costs?  That would teach these companies that play the arms smuggling game that they risk losing their aircraft if caught.

Anyway this is what I found interesting:

Although many in the government say it is important that Thailand follow these international rules, others have expressed concern that taking a hard line risks the wrath of North Korea, which has reacted aggressively when it felt slighted or threatened.

It is extremely unlikely North Korea is going to commit any act of terrorism inside of Thailand and it almost seems like Thailand is just trying to find some excuse to make this incident go away.