Editorial by Khmerization
The Thai invasion of Preah Vihear should serve as a lesson for Khmer leaders to pay more attention to national interests rather than personal interests. It was the complacency and the carelessness of the Cambodian leaders which enabled the Thai to occupy the so-called “disputed zone” without any attempt to stop them. The Preah Vihear temple has become a casualty of Thai political crisis. The Cambodian leaders knew full well that the People’s Alliance of Democrats (PAD) were using the listing of Preah Vihear issue to score an internal Thai political points against the Samak government by stirring up nationalistic emotions amongst the general Thai population that the Samak government is selling out to Cambodia. They have threatened to storm the Preah Vihear temple and some Thai people even staged a protest in front of the Preah Vihear temple. Yet the Cambodia government did not reinforce the border guards or put in place a strong border protection. If Cambodia had stationed enough troops, may be around 200 soldiers, at the disputes zone, then the original 20-40 Thai troops sent to retrieve the three Thai protesters arrested by Cambodian border guards for trespassing on Cambodian soil, would not have dared to cross the border to occupy the disputed zone.
On top of this, Cambodia’s conflicting and contradictory messages to Thailand, and to a certain extent to the international community, undermine Cambodia’s position regarding the dispute. Cambodia appeared to be very soft with Thailand. First it requested for the Thai withdrawal but then sent a confusing reconciliatory message to Thailand that the dispute would be solved by peaceful means where all troops are to stay where they are now. Cambodia also sent very contradictory messages to ASEAN and the UN by saying that “ the situation is on the brink of war” but at the same time Cambodia told them that it will not resort to resolve the dispute through military actions. These sorts of confusing and conflicting messages from Cambodia make the ASEAN and the UN think that the situation is not grave enough to warrant to their serious attention.
Cambodia must send strong and unequivocal messages to Thailand and the world that Thailand’s occupation of the so-called “disputed zone” is unacceptable and is a flagrant violation of Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and that Thailand must withdraw its troops immediately and unconditionally before any negotiation will take place regarding the border disputes. Cambodia’s weakness and the contradictory and confusing messages it sent to the Thai side and the international community will be Cambodia’s failure in its claims to the ownership of the so-called “overlapping area”. I can see the gloom and doom for Cambodia’s claims to the ownership of this area. And the Thai occupation is irreversible and a fait accompli, unless Cambodia makes substantial concessions to Thailand regarding the territorial claims surrounding the Preah Vihear precinct. This is my prediction.//
“Cambodia must send strong and unequivocal messages to Thailand and the world that Thailand’s occupation of the so-called “disputed zone” is unacceptable and is a flagrant violation of Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and that Thailand must withdraw its troops immediately and unconditionally before any negotiation will take place regarding the border disputes.”
The Thai invasion of Preah Vihear should serve as a lesson for Khmer leaders to pay more attention to national interests rather than personal interests. It was the complacency and the carelessness of the Cambodian leaders which enabled the Thai to occupy the so-called “disputed zone” without any attempt to stop them. The Preah Vihear temple has become a casualty of Thai political crisis. The Cambodian leaders knew full well that the People’s Alliance of Democrats (PAD) were using the listing of Preah Vihear issue to score an internal Thai political points against the Samak government by stirring up nationalistic emotions amongst the general Thai population that the Samak government is selling out to Cambodia. They have threatened to storm the Preah Vihear temple and some Thai people even staged a protest in front of the Preah Vihear temple. Yet the Cambodia government did not reinforce the border guards or put in place a strong border protection. If Cambodia had stationed enough troops, may be around 200 soldiers, at the disputes zone, then the original 20-40 Thai troops sent to retrieve the three Thai protesters arrested by Cambodian border guards for trespassing on Cambodian soil, would not have dared to cross the border to occupy the disputed zone.
On top of this, Cambodia’s conflicting and contradictory messages to Thailand, and to a certain extent to the international community, undermine Cambodia’s position regarding the dispute. Cambodia appeared to be very soft with Thailand. First it requested for the Thai withdrawal but then sent a confusing reconciliatory message to Thailand that the dispute would be solved by peaceful means where all troops are to stay where they are now. Cambodia also sent very contradictory messages to ASEAN and the UN by saying that “ the situation is on the brink of war” but at the same time Cambodia told them that it will not resort to resolve the dispute through military actions. These sorts of confusing and conflicting messages from Cambodia make the ASEAN and the UN think that the situation is not grave enough to warrant to their serious attention.
Cambodia must send strong and unequivocal messages to Thailand and the world that Thailand’s occupation of the so-called “disputed zone” is unacceptable and is a flagrant violation of Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and that Thailand must withdraw its troops immediately and unconditionally before any negotiation will take place regarding the border disputes. Cambodia’s weakness and the contradictory and confusing messages it sent to the Thai side and the international community will be Cambodia’s failure in its claims to the ownership of the so-called “overlapping area”. I can see the gloom and doom for Cambodia’s claims to the ownership of this area. And the Thai occupation is irreversible and a fait accompli, unless Cambodia makes substantial concessions to Thailand regarding the territorial claims surrounding the Preah Vihear precinct. This is my prediction.//
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