Letters to the editor of Bangkok Post
It is incredibly naive of Cha-am Jamal to assume that Cambodia would be willing to let Thailand dictate the basis for bilateral negotiations over Preah Vihear (''Do without the ICJ'', Postbag, July 26).
It is simply unthinkable that the Cambodian side would agree to disregard the 1962 International Court of Justice ruling just because Thai officials wish to turn back the clock and get a second chance.
Cambodian negotiators have already dismissed a map introduced by their Thai counterparts, and they would surely do so again, as they have absolutely no incentive or reason to do otherwise.
This conflict is unlikely to be solved through bilateral negotiations, and the sooner the UN accepts its responsibility to step in and take proactive steps to protect the Preah Vihear temple, the better
NERVOUS NELLY
Bangkok
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It's not nationalism, but plain foolishness
The stories about local residents in the disputed Preah Vihear area arming themselves and demanding militia training shows the ludicrous mentality of these people.
Do they honestly expect to ward off a Cambodian invasion with those antiquated weapons? This is not exactly the American Revolutionary War where the sides fought each other with almost equally matched squirrel guns.
One doesn't see patriots, but a bunch of old fools, like the photo of the old gent holding a rifle (Bangkok Post, July 25). The backward thrust from a fired rifle would be enough to dislocate his shoulder, thus saddling the local hospital with more work.
Let the professional army deal with the non-existent, so-called defence problems. That's what they are there for
JACK GILEAD
Prachin Buri
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Kantharalak district has seen much sadness
Your editorial (''Khmer polls a prelude to calm'', July 26) said, in part: ''The temple area's resurgence as a political and military flashpoint was the last thing the long-suffering villagers of Kantharalak district wanted. It all brought back terrible memories of the civil war in Cambodia which saw the bloody rise to power of the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and then the Vietnamese invaded the country three years later. Older villagers recall how this prompted a huge outpouring of refugees, many of whom scrambled up the escarpment and sought shelter. There were so many that thousands had to be forced back into Cambodia where they were caught in exchanges of gunfire amid driving rain or snared in minefields. The exact number of those who died will never be known.''
I don't know how many Khmer refugees were sent back from the Kantharalak area but there were some 42,000 men, women, old folks, boys, girls, babies forcibly repatriated from there on June 8-12, 1979.
These people were on the border and in Thailand in Aranyaprathet and Ta Phraya districts of present-day Sa Kaeo province. This was in the rainy season.
As you say, the number of deaths of those repatriated are only estimates but some estimates go as high as 8,000 from mines, sickness, malaria and starvation.
It was a sad few days for Thailand's reputation, and the largest post-World War Two forced repatriation of refugees in the world
THANYABURI MAC
Pathum Thani
It is simply unthinkable that the Cambodian side would agree to disregard the 1962 International Court of Justice ruling just because Thai officials wish to turn back the clock and get a second chance.
Cambodian negotiators have already dismissed a map introduced by their Thai counterparts, and they would surely do so again, as they have absolutely no incentive or reason to do otherwise.
This conflict is unlikely to be solved through bilateral negotiations, and the sooner the UN accepts its responsibility to step in and take proactive steps to protect the Preah Vihear temple, the better
NERVOUS NELLY
Bangkok
-----
It's not nationalism, but plain foolishness
The stories about local residents in the disputed Preah Vihear area arming themselves and demanding militia training shows the ludicrous mentality of these people.
Do they honestly expect to ward off a Cambodian invasion with those antiquated weapons? This is not exactly the American Revolutionary War where the sides fought each other with almost equally matched squirrel guns.
One doesn't see patriots, but a bunch of old fools, like the photo of the old gent holding a rifle (Bangkok Post, July 25). The backward thrust from a fired rifle would be enough to dislocate his shoulder, thus saddling the local hospital with more work.
Let the professional army deal with the non-existent, so-called defence problems. That's what they are there for
JACK GILEAD
Prachin Buri
-----
Kantharalak district has seen much sadness
Your editorial (''Khmer polls a prelude to calm'', July 26) said, in part: ''The temple area's resurgence as a political and military flashpoint was the last thing the long-suffering villagers of Kantharalak district wanted. It all brought back terrible memories of the civil war in Cambodia which saw the bloody rise to power of the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and then the Vietnamese invaded the country three years later. Older villagers recall how this prompted a huge outpouring of refugees, many of whom scrambled up the escarpment and sought shelter. There were so many that thousands had to be forced back into Cambodia where they were caught in exchanges of gunfire amid driving rain or snared in minefields. The exact number of those who died will never be known.''
I don't know how many Khmer refugees were sent back from the Kantharalak area but there were some 42,000 men, women, old folks, boys, girls, babies forcibly repatriated from there on June 8-12, 1979.
These people were on the border and in Thailand in Aranyaprathet and Ta Phraya districts of present-day Sa Kaeo province. This was in the rainy season.
As you say, the number of deaths of those repatriated are only estimates but some estimates go as high as 8,000 from mines, sickness, malaria and starvation.
It was a sad few days for Thailand's reputation, and the largest post-World War Two forced repatriation of refugees in the world
THANYABURI MAC
Pathum Thani
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