Two countries close to agreeing on map

THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL & WASSANA NANUAM

Thailand and Cambodia will meet again to revise the map of Preah Vihear temple to be used in the listing of the ancient ruins as a World Heritage site.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungwat said further talks between Thai and Cambodian officials are needed because the Cambodian map of the area covering the Hindu temple is slightly different from the border map used by Thailand.

Mr Tharit said the Royal Thai Survey Department will visit the site, on the border between Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district and Preah Vihear province of Cambodia, to verify the map before the ministry schedules a meeting with Phnom Penh.

He gave an assurance Thailand would not lose any land as a result of Cambodia's listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a Unesco World Heritage site.

The map will be a key document when Cambodia presents its case to experts of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) at talks next month in Quebec. The Cambodian plan needs Thailand's support.

Security sources said on Monday Thailand wants to ensure the area identified on the map as Preah Vihear temple, known as Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, does not include land which has not yet been demarcated by the two countries.

Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niempradit was confident of settling the issue amicably and believed Cambodia had no intention of including unmarked border areas in the temple map.

Mr Tharit said Thailand cannot petition to have the temple returned to its sovereignty as the World Court decided in 1962 to give it to Cambodia following a court battle between Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

''If we wanted to reclaim it, we should have made the claim within 10 years from the World Court 's verdict,'' he said. ''But 46 years have already passed''.