The Great Wall Of Preah Vihear

Opinion by Khmerization
25th August 2008

“Cambodia, as a sovereign nation, must plan the future of Preah Vihear alone for the good and the benefits of Preah Vihear and Cambodia, regardless of whether Thailand agreeing with the ideas or not. This includes the building of a Berlin-style wall or even the Great Wall of Preah Vihear that is comparable to the Great Wall of China.”

It was said that the Great Wall of China was built more than 2200 years ago (220-200 BC) to protect China from the invasion of Xiongnu- a confederation populated by the nomadic tribes which was consisted of the Hunnic tribes, who were said to be the ancestors of the present day Mongolian people. By the same token, with the Thai making a journey eastward by pushing its borders deep inside Cambodia, in particular around the Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temple areas, Cambodia’s plans to build a Berlin-style wall is a great idea indeed.

This is the 21st century and to some fair-minded people, the idea of building a wall to shut off foreign invaders or encroachers is too extreme. But with Cambodia’s borders being chipped away on a constant basis by our neighbours, it is imperative and appropriate for Cambodia to do everything possible to protect its borders from being encroached by our greedy neighbours, including going into extreme like building a Berlin-style wall.

The gate to Preah Vihear temple from the Thai side should be shut off permanently with the Berlin-style or the Israeli-style concrete walls which were built to fence off the attacks from the Palestinian extremists. Cambodia should encourage private and foreign investors to invest heavily in the Preah Vihear areas by offering them incentives and concessions in order to develop tourist facilities.

Road-building, proposals for cable cars and hospital buildings are ideas that are very encouraging. Access to the Preah Vihear temple from the Cambodian side is essential for the developments and the growth of Preah Vihear. If Preah Vihear remains dependent on access from Thailand, Cambodia and, to a larger extent, Preah Vihear temple will always be at the mercy of Thailand.

I predict a bleak future for the solutions of the Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples that are favourable to Cambodia. The solutions to the Preah Vihear and Ta Moan temples can only be achieved to the benefits of Thailand. With four negotiations taken place and the status quo still remain, the solutions are nowhere in sight, the situation remain as volatile as ever and the status quo remained unpredictable, the Cambodian people can only be pessimistic. With this scenario in mind, Cambodia must not be too complacent and lethargic about the Preah Vihear issue. On the contrary, Cambodia must be forceful, vigilant and pro-active by taking the initiatives, and not waiting for Thailand to make an offer.

Cambodia must be mindful and wake up to the facts that, with three negotiations that have failed to produce any outcomes so far, the Thai tactics in successfully manipulating the negotiation processes toward their advantages by hijacking the agenda of the negotiations, are aimed at prolonging the Thai occupation until such time a solution that is favourable to Thailand can be reached. So, Cambodia, as a sovereign nation, must plan the future of Preah Vihear alone for the good and the benefits of Preah Vihear and Cambodia, regardless of whether Thailand agreeing with the ideas or not. This includes the building of a Berlin-style wall or even the Great Wall of Preah Vihear that is comparable to the Great Wall of China.