A Change of Guard

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Friday 11 July 2008

FACTBOX-Disputes between Thailand and Cambodia

July 10 - Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama quit on Thursday after a political row over Bangkok's support for the listing of a disputed ancient temple on the Thai-Cambodian border as a World Heritage site.

Groups trying to oust Thailand's five-month old government have whipped up nationalist fervour over the 900-year old temple, which many Thais believe belongs to them. Here are some facts on relations and historical disputes between the two neighbours.

* Cultural links date back to at least the 9th century when Mon and Khmer people from south China migrated to the central plains and northern highlands of modern Thailand.

Cambodia's ancient Khmer Empire, the dominant power at the time, ruled over modern Thailand from its Angkor Wat complex.

* Thai generals rebelled in the 13th century, triggering a series of wars. Angkor was attacked by Thai forces around 1431 and abandoned. For the next three centuries the Khmer state alternated between brief periods of independence and paying tribute to Thai and Vietnamese kings as a vassal state.

* In 1863, Thai-educated Cambodian King Norodom accepted the protection of France, which was then pushing into south Vietnam. Norodom ceded suzereignty, gaining the return of two northern provinces, Battambang and Siem Reap, that had been incorporated into Thailand. They were returned to Cambodia in 1907.

* France ruled Cambodia as a colony along with Laos and Vietnam, keeping relatively cordial relations with Thailand, until Phnom Penh gained independence by 1954. The 800-kilometre Thai-Cambodia border, where Preah Vihear lies, was set by French colonial rulers.

The International Court in the Hague ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, a decision that rankles with most Thais to this day.

* Simmering grievances have sometimes flared into violence. A Cambodian mob torched the Thai embassy and Thai businesses in Phnom Penh in 2003 after a false report in a Khmer newspaper quoted a Thai TV star as saying Angkor belonged to Thailand.

Sources: Reuters; A Political Chronology of South-East Asia and Oceania

(Writing by Gillian Murdoch, Beijing Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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