Picture: Preah Vihear, view from the second gate."Preah Vihear is like a piece of meat being torn apart by two hungry tigers........The Cambodian ownership of Preah Vihear is a fait accompli."
Editorial by Khmerization:-Every time the issue of Preah Vihear comes up I have a Goosebumps, not because I am scared of the ghosts that inhibited inside the temple, but because I am scared of the fact that Preah Vihear is like a piece of meat being torn apart by two hungry tigers.
The issue of Preah Vihear should be settled once and for all since the International Court of Justice in The Hague handed the ownership of the temple to Cambodia in 1962. The fact that Thailand, from time to time, tried to stir up the issue shows that Thailand is obsessed with, and never wanted to let go of, Preah Vihear.
What the Thai Foreign Minister said in the article below should raise the eyebrows of many Cambodians. As a Cambodian, and I would think that many of my other fellow Cambodians would have agreed with me that, Preah Vihear was and still is rightfully Cambodian and that it should not be “negotiable”. The Cambodian ownership of Preah Vihear is a fait accompli. I agreed with the Thai foreign Minister that the issue must be resolved peacefully through diplomatic channels. But the resolution must not be to the disadvantage and the detriment of Cambodia’s national interests.
The fact that Thailand wanted to negotiate and the fact that it had used the issue of the “overlapping areas” to block Preah Vihear’s listing in the World Heritage List recently is a sign that the areas surrounding the Preah Vihear temple would have probably been encroached by Thailand. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum and the Lon Nol regimes no one has ever heard of any “overlapping areas” with our neighbours. The fact that there are numerous “overlapping areas” along the borders, especially with our two powerful neighbours, Vietnam and Thailand, should ring the alarm bell that something is wrong with the ways the present Cambodian government is protecting our borders.
Coming back to the issue of Preah Vihear, before agreeing to anything, Cambodia must physically investigate and examine the so-called “overlapping areas” thoroughly. Cambodia has been short-changed once before when Deputy Prime Minister Sok An agreed in principle to a joint development with Thailand and Vietnam of the so-called “overlapping seabeds” of the coast off Sihanoukville which are rich in oil. In that agreement, Cambodia had not only lost the oilfields and oil revenues, but it had also lost its territorial integrity to some degree.
The upcoming talks between Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and the Thai Foreign Minister, Noppadon Pattama, in Thailand is worrisome. It is a concern due to the fact that the negotiation is taking place in hostile “enemy” territory. The Cambodian delegation must show strength and tenacity by using historical facts to base our arguments. Any weakness will result in the loss of our territorial integrity, a loss that we cannot afford to incur.//END//
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The issue of Preah Vihear should be settled once and for all since the International Court of Justice in The Hague handed the ownership of the temple to Cambodia in 1962. The fact that Thailand, from time to time, tried to stir up the issue shows that Thailand is obsessed with, and never wanted to let go of, Preah Vihear.
What the Thai Foreign Minister said in the article below should raise the eyebrows of many Cambodians. As a Cambodian, and I would think that many of my other fellow Cambodians would have agreed with me that, Preah Vihear was and still is rightfully Cambodian and that it should not be “negotiable”. The Cambodian ownership of Preah Vihear is a fait accompli. I agreed with the Thai foreign Minister that the issue must be resolved peacefully through diplomatic channels. But the resolution must not be to the disadvantage and the detriment of Cambodia’s national interests.
The fact that Thailand wanted to negotiate and the fact that it had used the issue of the “overlapping areas” to block Preah Vihear’s listing in the World Heritage List recently is a sign that the areas surrounding the Preah Vihear temple would have probably been encroached by Thailand. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum and the Lon Nol regimes no one has ever heard of any “overlapping areas” with our neighbours. The fact that there are numerous “overlapping areas” along the borders, especially with our two powerful neighbours, Vietnam and Thailand, should ring the alarm bell that something is wrong with the ways the present Cambodian government is protecting our borders.
Coming back to the issue of Preah Vihear, before agreeing to anything, Cambodia must physically investigate and examine the so-called “overlapping areas” thoroughly. Cambodia has been short-changed once before when Deputy Prime Minister Sok An agreed in principle to a joint development with Thailand and Vietnam of the so-called “overlapping seabeds” of the coast off Sihanoukville which are rich in oil. In that agreement, Cambodia had not only lost the oilfields and oil revenues, but it had also lost its territorial integrity to some degree.
The upcoming talks between Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and the Thai Foreign Minister, Noppadon Pattama, in Thailand is worrisome. It is a concern due to the fact that the negotiation is taking place in hostile “enemy” territory. The Cambodian delegation must show strength and tenacity by using historical facts to base our arguments. Any weakness will result in the loss of our territorial integrity, a loss that we cannot afford to incur.//END//
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The article from Bangkok Post....
Preah Vihear temple talks to be held soon
Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama: " Preah Vihear is a negotiable process."
Thailand and Cambodia will hold talks on the issue of the Preah Vihear temple ruins later this month during the visit of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok Ann to Bangkok.Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday the issue remained ''negotiable'' and would be resolved through diplomatic channels when he met Mr Sok An in Bangkok. The date for the meeting has not been set.''The Foreign Ministry looks after this issue closely and will maintain the sovereignty and borders of the nation. Preah Vihear is a negotiable process. I don't believe it will affect the relationship between Thailand and Cambodia,'' he said.In 2001, Cambodia asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to put the Khmer temple ruins, called Khao Phra Viharn in Thai, on the World Heritage List. But Thailand protested due to concern that the announcement could affect its rights over the unsettled border.The World Heritage Committee said at its meeting in New Zealand last year that Cambodia should negotiate with Thailand on the issue because Thailand was a stakeholder as it shared the border with Cambodia.
Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama: " Preah Vihear is a negotiable process."
Thailand and Cambodia will hold talks on the issue of the Preah Vihear temple ruins later this month during the visit of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok Ann to Bangkok.Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday the issue remained ''negotiable'' and would be resolved through diplomatic channels when he met Mr Sok An in Bangkok. The date for the meeting has not been set.''The Foreign Ministry looks after this issue closely and will maintain the sovereignty and borders of the nation. Preah Vihear is a negotiable process. I don't believe it will affect the relationship between Thailand and Cambodia,'' he said.In 2001, Cambodia asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to put the Khmer temple ruins, called Khao Phra Viharn in Thai, on the World Heritage List. But Thailand protested due to concern that the announcement could affect its rights over the unsettled border.The World Heritage Committee said at its meeting in New Zealand last year that Cambodia should negotiate with Thailand on the issue because Thailand was a stakeholder as it shared the border with Cambodia.
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