Boonsrang urges border calm

Three Thais seized after crossing into Cambodia

BANGKOK POST AND AGENCIES

Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niempradit has urged people protesting in Si Sa Ket over the Preah Vihear temple controversy not to escalate the tensions with Cambodia after three Thais crossed into the disputed border area.

The crossing of senior monk Phra Khampheng, Vicharn Tabsorn and Chanikarn Kengnok, members of the ultra-nationalist Dharmayatra group, into the overlapping zone around 7am yesterday, prompted Gen Boonsrang to call Cambodian Defence Minister Teah Banh to secure their release.

Suranaree Task Force commander Maj-Gen Kanok Nettarakawaysana and Si Sa Ket governor Seni Jittakasem also went to Preah Vihear to hold talks with Cambodian authorities on the issue.

The three Thais were freed after four hours of negotiations, they said.

The Dharmayatra group has camped out on the Thai border in Kantharalak district of the northeastern province since June 22 to protest against Thai support for Phnom Penh's listing of the temple as a World Heritage site.

They are also demanding the return of the Preah Vihear temple to Thailand although the kingdom lost a legal battle with Cambodia over it in the International Court of Justice in 1962.

The World Heritage Committee has now listed the Preah Vihear temple.

Yesterday's events turned tragic for ranger Vilai Arom, who stepped on a landmine during a border patrol of the area. His leg was blown off in the blast.

Cambodian government spokesman Khiew Kanharith and director-general of the national authority of Preah Vihear temple Hang Soth, said that Thai troops had crossed over into Cambodian territory to help the three protesters.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat and the Si Sa Ket governor denied that Thai troops had intruded on Cambodian soil.

Lt-Gen Nipat Thonglek, head of the Border Affairs Department under the Supreme Command, said the protesters posed no harm to Cambodia as they protested peacefully by meditating.

Khieu Kanharith was quoted as saying in Phnom Penh that 170 Thai troops and civilians had crossed into Cambodian territory. He said a group of Thai soldiers were being detained inside Cambodia and would be there overnight. Still, he was confident the situation was under control and would not flare up.

But a reliable Thai source dismissed his account, saying there were no Thai troops under detention in Cambodia.

Worried about the tensions, Gen Boonsrang called on nationalists to pay heed to warnings by the military not to let the situation get out of control and stressed that the overlapping area of 4.6 sq km would be handled by the authorities and legal experts.

Those who did not know the problem and were ultra-nationalist but had taken their own steps without paying heed to any warnings would cause confusion, Gen Boonsrang warned.

The supreme commander called on ultra-nationalists staging protests over the Preah Vihear issue to stay calm. Patriotism was good, but it must be based on reason and fairness, he said.

Meanwhile, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) yesterday called on the Senate to impeach Prime Minster Samak Sundaravej over the temple row.

PAD leaders Pibhop Dhongchai, Suriyasai Katasila and Sirichai Mai-ngarm submitted 46,530 signatures to Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondej demanding the impeachment of Mr Samak for violating Article 270 of the charter.

His cabinet had endorsed the joint communique without parliamentary approval, the PAD said.

Treaties and Legal Affairs Department director-general Krit Kraichitti yesterday told the House panel on border affairs that the listing of the temple ruins did not include the 4.6-sq-km overlapping area with Cambodia.

Mr Krit insisted that Cambodia had proposed the listing of the temple only. He and Lt-Gen Dan Meechu-at, head of the Survey Department under the Supreme Command, were yesterday invited by the panel chaired by Samphan Lertnuwat, a list-MP of the People Power party, to testify over the listing of the Preah Vihear temple.