Preah Vihear: A Pyrrhic Victory For Cambodia?

Editorial by Khmerization

“While I am exuberant with the victory over Thailand on the listing of the Preah Vihear temple on the World Heritage List, I, like many of my compatriots, felt somewhat sad. I am sad because I felt that it is a Pyrrhic victory due to the fact that there is a possibility that Cambodia might lose the ownership of the 4.6 square kilometres to Thailand.”

I would like to begin this editorial with my condemnation to the demand by the Thai locals to forcibly evict Khmer residents in the so-called “disputed area”. Recently, there are disturbing news that the Thai people living in the vicinity of the Preah Vihear temple complex had pressurised the Thai Army to use force to evict the Cambodians living in the Preah Vihear temple surroundings, but, fortunately for the hapless Cambodian residents, the demand had been rejected by the Thai Army. (Full details click here).

Cambodians of all political persuasions should be outraged by this disturbing news. It is a news that cannot be ignored by the Cambodian authority. The Cambodian government has an obligation to safeguard Cambodia’s territorial integrity and to protect its citizens. So, it is imperative that the Cambodian government recognises the seriousness of this threat and do everything within its power to deter the threat from being carried out. The Cambodian government must also send a strong message to Thailand that the use of force to settle any border disputes will not be tolerated. Cambodia need also to remind Thailand that the border issue in the vicinity of the Preah Vihear temple had been settled once and for all by the 1907 treaty and again in 1962, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague adjudged to give ownership of the temple and its surrounding areas to Cambodia.

While I am exuberant with the victory over Thailand on the listing of the Preah Vihear temple on the World Heritage List, I, like many of my compatriots, felt somewhat sad. I am sad because I felt that it is a Pyrrhic victory due to the fact that there is a possibility that Cambodia might lose the ownership of the 4.6 square kilometres to Thailand. The fact that only the temple proper had been listed and the surrounding areas, including the staircases and the reservoir, had been left out of the listing suggested that Cambodia will face an uphill battle to recover the 4.6 square kilometres claimed as a “disputed zone” by Thailand. As of late, there is a suggestion by the chairman of Thailand’s World Heritage Committee, Mr. Pongpol Adireksan, that the “overlapping area” could be turned into a Thai-Cambodia peace park. Cambodia must not allow itself to be hypnotised by this proposition and it must vehemently resist this idea and fight with veracity to put this so-called “overlapping area” under Cambodia’s sovereignty in accordance with the 1907 treaty and the 1962 ICJ’s verdict.

It is also a disturbing news to hear Mr Francesco Caruso, an advisor to the director general of Unesco, suggesting that the listing of the Preah Vihear temple is not a fait accompli and that it is open for future amendment if contested by Thailand. He went on to say that it could be amended “to a bi-national listing of the temple”. No country on earth, in their rightful mind, should agree to share their territorial lands and surrender their sovereignty to any country. And Thailand will never agree to share its territorial lands with Cambodia. By the same token, Cambodia must never agree to share its territorial lands with Thailand.

In wrapping up this editorial, I would like to opine, as suggested by some political circles in Cambodia, and I concur with their rationale, that Mr. Hun Sen and his government had hidden agenda in agreeing to list only the temple body, by leaving out the surrounding historic sites. There had been a suggestion that Mr. Hun Sen wanted to use the listing of the Preah Vihear temple to campaign for the election and this is the reason that he agreed to list only the temple. Mr Hun Sen’s hidden agenda, if proven to be true, is a treasonous act and is impeachable. Trading Cambodia’s territorial integrity for his own political interests is an unforgivable act of treason that should be condemned in the strongest term by Cambodians from all walks of life. But I will give Mr. Hun Sen the benefit of the doubt and if, in future negotiations, the 4.6 square kilometres fall under Cambodia’s sovereignty, Mr. Hun Sen will be hailed a national hero. I hope the future negotiations on the 4.6 square kilometres will end happily for Cambodia. I hope.