New Khmer map on disputed temple

Noppadon says it will help break deadlock

THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL

The long-running dispute over Preah Vihear temple between Thailand and Cambodia is likely to be settled based on a new border map developed by Phnom Penh, according to Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama. The map, received on Thursday, a day before the two neighbouring countries' agreed deadline, was initially seen to indicate that only the temple, without its surrounding areas, was to be registered as a World Heritage Site, the minister said.

Bangkok and Phnom Penh agreed in Paris late last month, during a Unesco-brokered meeting, to develop a new map and Cambodia would send it to Thailand by June 6.

The new map has helped break the deadlock over the disputed land at the ancient temple site, locally known as Khao Phra Viharn, and Cambodia would now propose the temple as a World Heritage Site early next month in Canada, said Mr Noppadon.

Mr Noppadon assured that Thailand will not lose an inch of its territory under the new map developed by the Cambodian side.

Under the redrawn map, Cambodia has proposed that the Preah Vihear temple, which is on its side, and only 30 metres of the adjacent areas of the temple be put up for listing.

Cambodia's previous proposal to Unesco _ the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation _ also included disputed land on the 4.6-square-kilometre border between Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district and Preah Vihear province as areas to be listed under the World Heritage Site.

''To make sure that there is no area that overlaps Thai territory, I have asked the Royal Thai Survey Department to inspect the area again with the use of the highly accurate GPS system. It would take just three days to do it,'' said Mr Noppadon in a phone interview from Germany.

He said he discussed the map by phone with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and instructed senior officers of the East Asian Treaties and Legal Affairs departments as well as the military's Royal Thai Survey Department to go to Siem Reap to receive the map from Cambodia on Thursday.

After being properly checked, the map will be forwarded to the National Security Council, which is expected to hold a meeting on Monday, and then tabled before the cabinet for endorsement on Tuesday.

Mr Noppadon said he would try to give the Phnom Penh government a reply on the matter before June 15, when the Cambodian government is required to table the map before the World Heritage Site Committee, comprising members from 21 countries, in Canada.

Mr Noppadon also plans to attend the July 2 meeting in Quebec.

''We have reached a stage where both sides can break the deadlock without losing any territory, and this case will set a good precedent for other negotiations between the two countries in the future,'' he said.

The new map will only be made public after its submission by Cambodia to the World Heritage Site Committee, he said.

However, the two countries have still to strike a deal on how they would jointly run the disputed areas, said Mr Noppadon.